Guwahati, Sept 23: Singer Zubeen Garg’s body was consigned to flames, amid chanting of Vedic hymns in the sylvan surroundings of Kamarkuchi on the outskirts of Assam’s Guwahati.
His sister Palme Borthakur and music composer Rahul Gautam, a protege of the singer, lit the pyre, amid gun salutes.
They went around the pyre seven times as priests guided them, and all present at the site stood up.
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 smoke from the flames flared up, slogans like ‘Zubeen, Zubeen’ reverberated in the air, and people were seen singing his song ‘Mayabini Ratir buku’.
After the tributes were paid to the popular singer, the Assam Police gave him the gun salute and sounded the bugle.
The mortal remains of Garg were taken to a platform and placed on the pyre amid chanting of Vedic hymns and blowing of conch shells.
The family performed certain Vedic rituals while Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma placed wood on the pyre.
A branch of the sandalwood tree, which Zubeen had planted on his birthday in 2017, was placed on the pyre. (PTI)
