Lata Mangeshkar Cremated In Mumbai With State Honours

She lent her voice to the songs Ellare Iratheero and Bellane belagayithu for the movie Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna in the year 1967. Her sister Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar have also crooned for the same film directed by B T Athani. The film also had V S Patil, Kamini Kadam, Dada Salavi and Rajshekar in lead roles. Lakshman Barelendar had composed the music.

Lata was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai on January 8 after she was tested positive for Coronavirus. She was under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) . After showing signs of improvement, herhealth condition deteriorated signficantly and her death has left entire nation in a state of grief. A two-day national mourning will be observed in the memory of the legendary singer. As a mark of respect, the National Flag will fly at half-mast for two days.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, lyricist Javed Akhtar, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, among others, were also in attendance to pay their last respects.

A recipient of the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, Lata Mangeshkar was an icon of Indian cinema, having sung playback for an extensive list of Hindi films.

One of the famous episodes of her life is when her music moved Jawaharlal Nehru to tears. On January 27, 1963 during the backdrop of the India-China war, Lata Mangeshkar sang Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon in the presence of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, bringing him to tears.

Subcontinent leaders, sent their tributes to the legendary singer.

"With the death of Lata Mangeshkar the subcontinent has lost one of the truly great singers the world has known. Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people all over the world," Imran Khan tweeted.

Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari recalled the contribution of "genius" Lata Mangeshkar to Nepali songs as she paid her tribute to the singer.

"I am saddened by the news of the demise of famous Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar, who has also lent her melodious voice to many Nepalese songs," Ms Bhandari tweeted in Nepali language.

Lata Mangeshkar, who belonged to a prominent musical family, also composed music as well as produced a handful of films. She was popularly known as the 'Nightingale of India.'

In her melodious voice, Lata Mangeshkar had sung over 50,000 songs in 14 languages since her radio debut in 1941.