MADURAI: Tributes were paid across the State on Saturday to legendary freedom fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman on his 266th birth anniversary, with people from various political parties and the public recalling his resistance against British colonialism.

In Madurai, DMDK leader Vijaya Prabhakaran, along with party cadre and supporters, garlanded the statue of Kattabomman located in the heart of the city.

Similar tributes were paid at Panchalankurichi in Ottapidaram taluk of Thoothukudi district, the historic seat of Kattabomman. V Veemaraja alias Jagaveera Pandiya Subramania Kattabomma Durai (86), a fifth-generation descendant of the Kattabomman clan, paid floral tributes at the Kattabomman Fort along with his family.

Despite being wheelchair-bound following an accident four years ago, Veemaraja never misses the annual homage, his wife Sakthi Petchiyammal said. He was accorded first honours at government functions held in the Thoothukudi district.