India mourns: Loses Actor Cum Politician Jayaram Jayalalithaa, Who Died After Prolonged Illness..

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the chief minister of south India's Tamil Nadu state and one of the country's most popular political leaders, has died after a prolonged illness, hospital authorities announced late on Monday night.

"It is with indescribable grief, we announce the sad demise of our esteemed honourable chief minister of Tamil Nadu at 11:30 pm today," Chennai's Apollo Hospital said in a statement released to the media on Monday.

Doctors had been treating the 68-year-old former film star, who enjoys an almost god-like status in Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of devotees have kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private hospital in the state capital Chennai since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever. Their numbers have swelled since her condition worsened on Sunday.Prime minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences.