Amonkar cremated with full state honours; PM mourns loss

Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar, who passed away on Monday night, was cremated here on Tuesday with full state honours. Those who attended the cremation at the Dadar crematorium included Maharashtra cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde, santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, musician Abhijit Pohankar, actor Vikram Gokhale, acclaimed percussionist Taufiq Qureshi and noted playback singer Suresh Wadkar.

Singer Mahesh Kale and theatre and film director Vijaya Mehta also paid their tributes to Amonkar, whose body was draped in the national tricolour before the cremation. Amonkar's eldest son Nihar lit the funeral pyre.

Paying his tributes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the demise of Amonkar (84) is an irreparable loss to the Indian classical music.

"Deeply pained by her demise. May her soul rest in peace. The works of Kishori Amonkar will always remain popular among people for years to come," he tweeted.

Amonkar's body was kept at the Ravindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi area to enable people to pay their last respects and was then taken to Dadar crematorium for the last rites.

Born on April 10, 1932 in Mumbai, Amonkar was recognised as one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur gharana.