STATE TIMES NEWS
MUMBAI: Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, who enthralled millions with her divine voice for eight decades, was cremated with full state honours in Mumbai on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the luminaries from politics and entertainment industry present at her funeral at Shivaji Park in Dadar area in the evening.
Modi left the venue after offering her floral tributes. Floral tributes were also paid to her at Shivaji Park on behalf of President Ram Nath Kovind.
Lata’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar lit the funeral pyre of the singing legend, who died at 92 in a hospital here on Sunday morning after multi-organ failure.
Lata’s last audio message for India was a Shloka from Bhagavad Gita
Lata Mangeshkar’s recitation of a verse from Bhagwad Gita was her last audio message, which was recorded by Anupam Kher. He shared the recording on Twitter today, remembering the legendary singer. Today, February 6, an era has come to an end, as legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar breathed her last.
In the voice clip, Lata Mangeshkar greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the second meeting of the Amrit Mahotsav Committee. After congratulating the PM on India’s 75th year of Independence, she said. “Yeh sab main kehne ke baad Bhagwad Gita mein Bhagwan Shri Krishna, ek unka shloka hai jo main sunane ja rahi hoon. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata. Abhythanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham. Paritranaya sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam. Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge yuge.”
She further said, “Bhagwan Shri Krishna ne yeh kahan. Woh hamesha hamare saath rahe. Aaj bhi saath hain aur aage bhi saath rahenge, yeh mujhe vishwaas hai. Main aap sabko pranaam karti hoon aur aagya leti hoon (Lord Krishna said this. He is always with us. He is with us today and will remain in the future as well. I greet you all and will take your leave).”
Sharing the clip on Twitter, Anupam Kher wrote in Hindi, “Lata ji ka Bhagwad Gita ke shlok ko gaate hue aakhtri sandesh; 22/12/2021 ki dupahar zoom par azaadi ka amrit mahotsav committee ke dusri meeting mein jab Lata ji ki bolne ki baari aayi toh fan hone ke naate mera dil kiya ki main unki awaaz rocrd kar loon. Suniye! Kya boli thi mahaan gaayika.”
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray were present as Lata’s mortal remains were consigned to flames in presence of people from all walks of life.
Hridaynath Mangeshkar was inconsolable as he performed the last rites.
Modi laid a wreath and bowed in front of the mortal remains. He also met the Mangeshkar family members and consoled them. He left the venue before the funeral.
Just before the last rites, the national Tricolour in which the mortal remains were draped, was handed over to the family members.
J&K Govt declares two days mourning
JAMMU: The Government decided to observe two days UT Mourning on February 6 and 7, 2022 as a mark of respect to Kumari Lata Mangeshkar, who has passed away today morning.
“As Government of India has decided that there shall be two days State Mourning on February 6 to 7, 2022 throughout the country, it has been decided that the National Flag shall fly at half-mast during the mourning on all buildings and places where it is flown regularly; and there shall be no official entertainment during the Mourning,” reads a notification issued by Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Principal Secretary, General Administration Department. “These decisions are brought into notice of all the concerned for information and necessary action,” it added.
The mortal remains of Lata Mangeshkar, draped in the national flag, were taken in a truck from her residence Prabhu Kunj in south Mumbai to Shivaji Park for the last rites.
India’s national treasure whose voice stirred millions of hearts every day for close to eight decades. She was 92.
As a flower-bedecked cortege went from Mangeshkar’s Peddar Road home to Shivaji Park for the last rites, surging crowds of mourners walked or jogged along, many thousands lined the 10-kilometre route and millions tuned into their screens — to say goodbye to the woman who had been an integral part of their lives and to fuse into memory a moment in contemporary history.
Mangeshkar, whose name was written into legend long years before she took her last breath in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital, had been in hospital since January 8 when she was diagnosed with Covid with mild symptoms. She was also diagnosed with pneumonia.
The singer, one of India’s most well known and well loved personalities, died at 8.12 am due to multi organ failure, her doctor Pratit Samdani said.
The government announced a two-day “state mourning” for Mangeshkar, who had a prodigious almost eight-decade career in which she sang an estimated 25,000 songs in as many as 36 Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada, and across classical and other genres.
The national flag will fly at half mast from February 6 to February 7 throughout India. There will also be no official entertainment in this period.
The Indore-born Mangeshkar is survived by her siblings Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath.
Sounds of Lata Mangeshkar Amar Rahe could be heard through the route.
” I’m just shattered that Didi, who has shaped my life and that if crores of others, is not anymore,” said 60-year-old Savita Shah, one of the many who had gathered outside her home to pay their respects to the woman whose voice they woke up to, listened to as they went about their day and as they turned in for the night.
As millions mourned her and said thank you for your music, the tributes came pouring in with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading a heartbroken nation in remembering her.
“Lata-ji’s demise is heart-breaking for me, as it is for millions the world over. In her vast range of songs, rendering the essence and beauty of India, generations found expression of their inner-most emotions. A Bharat Ratna, Lata-ji’s accomplishments will remain incomparable,” the president said.
The prime minister said he was anguished beyond words.
“The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people,” he said in a tweet.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said she remained the most beloved voice of India for many decades” and added that her immortal golden voice will continue to echo in the hearts of her fans.
Considered one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema, Mangeshkar received several film awards and honours like Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, and multiple National Film Awards.
The film world she had worked with for decades expressed their condolences too.
She has left us The voice of a million centuries has left us her voice resounds now in the Heavens! Prayers for calm and peace…,” Amitabh Bachchan said in his personal blog.
Actor Waheeda Rehman, who danced to Mangeshkar’s playback most memorably in “Guide” in “Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai”, and “Piya tose naina laage re”, said there was magic in her voice.
“We shared a very friendly and warm relationship. She had such a beautiful voice and her songs will be remembered for years to come Behind this magic was a lot of hard work and determination, Rehman told PTI. Actor Shabana Azmi said, “Lataji ..our national treasure no more ..her voice lit up our lives , gave us solace when we were sad , gave strength when we were low..Thank you Lataji and RIP.”
Manoj Bajpayee echoed many when he tweeted that a golden era of the music world has truly ended!.’
Known as the Queen of Melody, Nightingale of India, and simply the legend, Mangeshkar started training in singing at the age of five. Her last song, presumed to be lost, was released last year in October, 79 years later.
Mangeshkar’s unforgettable songs include ‘Lag Jaa Gale’, ‘Mohe Panghat Pe’, ‘Chalte Chalte’, ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ , ‘Ajeeb Daastaan Hai’, ‘Hothon mein aisi baat’, ‘Pyar kiya to darna kya’, ‘Neela asman so gaya’, ‘Pani Pani Re’.
Such was the pull of her voice that Bade Ghulam Ali sahab, a musician that Mangeshkar greatly admired, is believed to have said that Kambakhq kabhi besuree hee nahee hoti (She can never be out of tune).
Many, including some the biggest musicians and actors,equated her voice with that of ‘goddess Saraswati’. And fate willed it that she died a day after Saraswati Puja.
Mangeshkar acknowledged the love but remained humble till the end.
“Some people call me ‘Saraswati’ or say that I have her blessings. I believe I have the blessings of my parents, our deity Mangesh, Sai baba and god, she told PTI in October last year in what was probably her last interview.
It is their blessing that people like whatever I sing. Otherwise who am I? I am nothing. There have been better singers than me and some of them are not even with us, she said.