In a show of respect for departed legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar the Bengal Government on Sunday decided to declare a half-day closure on Monday besides remembering the melody queen by playing her songs in all the government programmes for the coming fortnight.
The State Government has also arranged for a special programme at Rabindra Sadan on Monday for the people to come and pay their respect to the legendary singer from 10 am to 5 pm, Government sources said.
In her condolence Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I pay my heart-felt tribute to the departed icon of India, Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar. While offering my sincerest condolences to her family and the billions of admirers that she leaves behind all over the world, I express my deepest sadness at the demise of the genius that the Nightingale of India truly was…Like all her fans and followers across the planet, I was also mesmerized by her voice and renderings, and felt grateful that she held Bengal and the artistes of the East so dear to her heart and so integral to her magnificent world of music.”
Further she remembered having offered her the highest Bengal Government honour. “I offered her the highest Government honour of Bengal but she could not come to Kolkata as she was unwell,” Banerjee
said.
State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said “Anguished at the passing of Bharat Ratna all-time greatest Lata Mangeshkar. The void she leaves is difficult to fill. Generations will ever remember the legend of culture for her immortalised melodious voice that would ever mesmerise people.”
The singer has sung scores of songs for Bengali films including those in Amanush, Anand Ashram featuring legendary actors like Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Tanuja and others.
Incidentally another legendary Bengali singer, the 93-year-old Sandhya Mukhopadhyay who was a friend of the departed should too is fighting corona in a Kolkata hospital.