IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

How ancestral village of Kamala Harris is celebrating inauguration

Thulasendrapuram, a leafy village about 200 miles south of the city of Chennai, is where Harris’s maternal grandfather was born more than a century ago.
Image: A man holds a placard with the photo of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as another distributes sweets during the celebration on the day of her inauguration in the village of Thulasendrapuram,
A man holds a placard with the photo of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as another distributes sweets during the celebration on the day of her inauguration in the village of Thulasendrapuram, where Harris' maternal grandfather was born and grew up, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India, Jan. 20, 2021.P. Ravikumar / Reuters

THULASENDRAPURAM, India - Residents of the ancestral Indian village of Kamala Harris celebrated her inauguration as U.S. vice president on Wednesday by setting off firecrackers and distributing food.

Thulasendrapuram, a leafy village about 320 km (200 miles) south of the city of Chennai, is where Harris’s maternal grandfather was born more than a century ago.

Calendars featuring the faces of Biden and Harris have been distributed throughout the village by a co-operative.

Image: A man wears cut-outs of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and walks on a street in Chennai, India
A man wears cut-outs of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and walks on a street in Chennai, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.R. Parthibhan / AP

“A local politician conducted a special prayer and villagers have been distributing sweets and letting off crackers since the morning,” said village shopkeeper G Manikandan.

The scenes were in contrast to the sombre mood in Washington - locked down due to security concerns and the threat of the novel coronavirus - where Biden and Harris are due to be sworn in later on Wednesday.

Harris, who was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, both of whom immigrated to the United States to study, visited Thulasendrapuram when she was five and has recalled walks with her grandfather on the beach at Chennai.

Image: Villagers pose holding photos of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at her ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Villagers pose holding photos of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at her ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Jan. 20, 2021.Arun Sankar / AFP - Getty Images

Separately, artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture featuring Biden and Harris.

Harris becomes the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to win the second highest U.S. office.

Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.