Sir Arthur C Clarke’s secretary, Nalaka Gunawardene, explained to the press the details of how Arthur C Clarke had wanted his funeral to be and she said that he had left the following instructions: "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral."
Arthur C Clarke wrote more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and he collaborated on the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick.
Since 1995, Arthur C Clarke had spent most of his life in a wheelchair because of post-polio syndrome.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse paid tribute to Sir Arthur C Clarke, describing him as a "great visionary".
