Assam: Legendary Singer Zubeen Garg Cremated With Full State Honours

Guwahati: The last rites of popular Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on Friday, was performed on Tuesday on the outskirts of Guwahati where thousands of his fans, followers and admirers had gathered overnight to bid farewell to their beloved singer.

His mortal remains, draped in Assamese gamosa, were taken in a flower-decked ambulance to the cremation site from the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex in Guwahati.

Zubeen Garg’s octogenarian father, wife Garima, and other family members and relatives accompanied him during his final journey. Thousands of fans followed the ambulance.

At Kamarkuchi, fans kept chanting “Jai Zubeen Da” in reverence and sang one of his most popular songs----“Mayabini.” Significantly Zubeen Garg had said multiple times that this song should be played when he dies.

Earlier, lakhs of admirers and fans from all over Assam and beyond, paid their last respects to him at Sarusajai Stadium in the city on Sunday and Monday.

The funeral pyre was lit by Zubeen Garg’s younger sister Palmee Borthakur, who was accompanied by Rahul Gautam Sharma, a writer, lyricist and actor, and Arun Garg, a digital creator and close associate of the family. A group of priests chanted mantras while a team from Assam Police gave a gun salute according state honour to the singer. Thousands of his ardent fans and admirers, who had gathered at the site, sang ‘Mayabini’, one of Zubeen Garg’s iconic songs which he had desired to be sung during his funeral.

Many dignitaries, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju, Pabitra Margherita, Assam assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Congress leader and leader of opposition in the state Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, members of the state cabinet and MLAs were present at the site.

Representatives of many prominent organisations like Assam Sahitya Sabha, the state’s premier literary body, All Assam Students Union, the most influential student body, and those from indigenous bodies also paid their last respects.

Earlier in the day, the second post-mortem on Zubeen Garg’s body was conducted at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital in the presence of AIIMS doctors. The Assam government had decided on the second autopsy following a demand from the public, including the singer’s fans.

Legendary Assamese singer Zubeen Garg who had gone to take part in the North East Festival, this year hosted in Singapore by an NGO of the state passed away in a tragic swimming accident in Singapore on Friday.