Guwahati | Singer Zubeen Garg's body was consigned to flames with full state honours amid chanting of Vedic hymns as thousands of fans sang his songs to bid farewell to the icon in the sylvan surroundings of Kamarkuchi on the outskirts of Assam's Guwahati on Tuesday.
His sister Palme Borthakur and music composer Rahul Gautam, a protege of the singer, lit the pyre, amid gun salutes.
The two went around the pyre seven times as priests guided them, and all present at the site, most with moist eyes, stood up to pay their last salute to the singer who mesmerised all with his over 38,000 songs.
Zubeen's wife, Garima Saikia Garg, was sitting on the side of the platform where his last rites were performed and was seen sobbing all through the rituals as the singer's old friend and Union minister Pabitra Margherita consoled her.
The singer's 85-year-old ailing father, Mohini Mohan Borthakur, was sitting at a distance surrounded by family members, but left the venue after the pyre was lit, complaining of uneasiness.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who claims to be a die-hard Zubeen fan, was also seen standing near the platform where the pyre was lit.
A branch of the sandalwood tree, which Garg had planted on his birthday in 2017, was placed on the pyre.
As the smoke from the flames flared up, slogans like 'Zubeen, Zubeen' and 'Jai Zubeen da' reverberated in the air, and people sang his song 'Mayabini Ratir buku' and this continued all through the rituals held in an emotionally charged atmosphere.
His wife also planted a 'nahor' (Indian Rose Chestnut) sapling at the cremation ground.
The Assam Police gave Garg the gun salute and sounded the bugle, after tributes were paid to the popular singer.
After the funeral was over, the ashes were collected by the state government with a portion to be handed to the family for the rituals, while the rest will be kept in the custody of the Department of Cultural Affairs to be handed over to organisations requesting for it.
The family performed certain Vedic rituals while Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju and the CM placed wood on the pyre.
Earlier, the popular singer's body was brought to Kamarkuchi from Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex, where fans had paid their homage to him since Sunday.
After being brought to Kamarkuchi, his body was placed on a podium, next to the platform where his last rites were performed.
The funeral pyre has been constructed on the platform, covered in a white canopy and decorated with flowers.
Vedic hymns were chanted by priests at the cremation site since early morning.
A team of Assam police personnel was the pallbearers of the casket carrying Garg and they carried him on their shoulders from the highway to the cremation site.
A huge crowd had gathered around the cremation site, including the hills surrounding the place, since Monday night with many climbing nearby trees to catch a glimpse of the last rites.
Members of the family, including his wife Garima Garg, paid tributes to the singer at the cremation site.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju laid a wreath on the glass coffin on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sonowal, Rijiju and Pabitra Margherita, Sarma, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary and several cabinet ministers and government officials also laid floral wreaths on the singer's coffin.
Sonowal, Margherita, the CM and leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia went down on their knees to pay tributes to the singer.
Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Pradyut Bordoloi, AGP MP Birendra Prasad Baishya along with state ministers and MLAs all stood in the same line as a mark of respect for the departed leader.
Garg died in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea and was brought to New Delhi the next day at midnight. His body arrived at Guwahati on Sunday morning and it took nearly six hours for his cortege to reach his residence, crawling slowly through a sea of humanity.
On Tuesday morning, the singer's body was brought back to the sports complex after the second postmortem at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.
Garg’s last journey began from the sports complex and moved through Sarusajai, Beltola, Khanapara and Jorabat to reach the final destination at Kamarkuchi.
His body, placed inside the cold glass coffin, draped in the traditional Assamese 'gamosa' was taken in a flower-bedecked ambulance with a huge black and white portrait of the singer in front of the vehicle.
The Assam government will make arrangements for the 13th day rituals of the singer at Jorhat, where a memorial will also be built along with the one at his cremation site.
Representatives of the Arunachal Pradesh government, Assam Sahitya Sabha, All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Assam Jatiyatabdi Yuba Chatra Parishad, All Assam Tai Ahom Chatra Sanstha, All Assam Tea Tribe Students' Association, All Bodo Students' Union, All Assam Chutia Students Union, Assam Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union, Hatimura Karbi Samaj, Artists Forum, Zubeen Garg Fan Club and others also paid their last respects to the singer.
