The body of Nelson Mandela has finally been laid to rest in a family plot after political and religious leaders paid tribute to South Africa's first black president at a state funeral service.
His widow, Graca Machel, and President Jacob Zuma were present for the private, traditional Xhosa ceremony at Mandela's ancestral home in Qunu.
Mandela's casket was carried by the military, accompanied by family and friends, from a specially-erected marquee up a hill to the graveside.
As his coffin was lowered into the grave, South African air force helicopters and jets staged a fly-past and cannons fired a 21-gun salute.
“It was a fitting send-off for a man widely seen as the "father of the nation".” the BBC's Pumza Fihlani said.
The final day of South Africa's 10-day commemoration for its late leader began with his coffin taken on a gun carriage from Mandela's house to a giant marquee.
Members of the family had attended an overnight vigil, where a traditional praise singer is believed to have chanted details of his long journey and life.
Inside the marquee, Nelson Mandela's portrait stood behind 95 candles, representing one for each year of his life.
His casket, draped in the South African flag, was placed beneath a lectern where speakers paid their tributes.
Some guests sang and danced to celebrate Mandela's life as the service began. After the national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel'I Africa (God Bless Africa) was sung, the service heard from a family spokesman, Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, who thanked the army medical team that had treated Mr Mandela before he died..
"A great tree has fallen, he is now going home to rest with his forefathers. We thank them for lending us such an icon."
Addressing the congregation, Madiba’s grandchildren took the podium. Ndaba read an obituary while Nandi spoke fondly of her grandfather as a disciplinarian.
"We shall miss you... your stern voice when you are not pleased with our behaviour. We shall miss your laughter."
Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel and his second wife, Winnie-Madikizela Mandela, who sat either side of President Jacob Zuma were listening to the tributes. Both women were praised for their love and tolerance, in an address by Malawi's President Joyce Banda. 
President Zuma led the service in song before giving his funeral oration. "It has been a long and painful week for us," he said in tribute to a man he praised as a pillar of strength and beacon of hope for anyone fighting for a "just world order".
"Whilst the long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense, our own journey continues," he said.
As the political tributes over-ran, the organisers made an unsuccessful attempt to cut back the religious element of the service, which continued with a sermon from Bishop Zipho Siwa of the Methodist Church.
The master of ceremonies, ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, had earlier explained that burial had to take place at mid-day, in line with the traditions of Mandela's Thembu tribe in Qunu.
"A person of Mandela's stature is meant to be laid to rest when the sun is at its highest and when the shadow is at its shortest."
The Thembu community will conduct a private traditional Xhosa ceremony - including songs and poems about Mandela's life and his achievements.
An ox will be slaughtered. A family elder will stay near the coffin, which has been draped with a lion's skin, to talk "to the body's spirit".
The burial will bring to an end 10 days of mourning across South Africa.
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