Anti-apartheid icon and South African leader Nelson Mandela,who passed away in Johannesburg on the Thursday night, will be accorded a state funeral on 15th of December. This was announced by
the South African President Jacob Zuma. He said the state funeral would take place in Mandela's ancestral home of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province. He has declared tomorrow as the 'National day of prayer and reflection' in memory of the departed leader.

The official memorial service to Nelson Mandela will be held on the 10th of December at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. Thereafter, his mortal remains will lie in state at the Union building in Pretoria where he served as the first President of a Democratic South Africa.

Large crowds of people are thronging the streets in Johannesburg and Soweto to pay tributes to their departed leader. South Africans are saying prayers, singing anti-apartheid songs and lighting candles in memory of Nelson Mandela.

One the of world's most respected statesmen, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail before becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994.

India has declared a five-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the anti-apartheid icon. The National Flag will fly at half-mast during the mourning till the 10th of December throughout the country and there will be no official entertainment during this
period. Both Houses of Parliament adjourned on Friday as a mark of respect to the memory of Nelson Mandela. New Delhi will send a high
level delegation at the funeral of the departed leader.

The President, the Prime Minister and various other leaders have mourned the death of Nelson Mandela.

US President Barack Obama and the first lady Michelle Obama will travel to South Africa next week to participate in the memorial
services.