Colombo, Mar 23: Visionary science fiction great Arthur C Clarke was laid to rest in his adopted home Sri Lanka as per his wishes on Saturday while mourners across the country observed a minute's silence in his memory.

"There has been no official ceremony, gathering or live telecast during Clarke's burial as per his desire," a senior official said as the British-born writer, who died on Wednesday aged 90 due to respiratory complications and heart failure, was buried in a cemetery of his adopted family with whom he lived for decades.

An atheist, Clarke, who had donated six strands of his hair so that they can be sent into the space where he hoped aliens would one day make his clone, had in his will forbidden any religious ceremony or speeches at his funeral.

The simple ceremony was attended by his close relatives and a few others.

Music from scientific fiction thrillers played in the background as hundreds of avid fans as well as political and religious leaders filed past Clarke's body laid on a bed decorated with a white linen cloth at his residence.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had placed a wreath on Clarke's body on Wednesday.

In his several decades of writing career, Clarke, who was knighted in 1998, brought out more than 100 books and about a 1000 short stories besides essays on space travel, underwater exploration and communication technologies.

Clark, more known as a visionary science fiction writer, lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death, having emigrated to the country when it was still known as Ceylon.

He held citizenship of both the U K and Sri Lanka.