Mortal remains of legendary playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was laid to rest in farm at Tamaraipakkam in Tiruvallur district on Saturday with full police honours in the presence of his family members.
SPB, who had been undergoing treatment for Covid-19 in MGM Healthcare since August 5, died at 1.04pm on Friday at the age of 74.
The singer’s body was brought to his home in Kamdhar Nagar 1st Street at Kodambakkam around 4pm on Friday, where a legion of fans turned up to pay their last respects, braving fears of Covid-19 infection.
Several fans wailed after leaving the house. As a fan put it, quoting the tweaked lyrics of one of his famous songs “Ennai nee dan pirindhaalum, ninaivale anaitheyae” (Though you left me, your memories caress me) from the film “Mouna Ragam.”
The body was kept at him home till 8.30pm and taken to his Tamaraipakkam farmhouse.
According to sources, government authorities requested the family to shift the singer’s mortal remains overnight as it became difficult to control the crowd and ensure physical distancing outside the singer’s city residence.
On the way to Tamaraipakkam on Friday night, traffic was stalled at several stretches as public turned up in hordes along the route.
While it was initially announced that public entry would not be allowed, on Saturday, hundreds of fans crowded outside the farmhouse. They were allowed to pay respects to the mortal remains of SPB.
Actor Vijay arrived to pay his respects to mortal remains of the singer. Apart from rendering voice to several of the actor’s songs, Vijay and SPB had also shared screen space as father and son in the 2000 movie “Priyamanavale.”
Minister for Tamil development K Pandiarajan, film directors Bharathiraja and Ameer Sultan, singer Mano, music directors Dheena and Devi Sri Prasad, actors Arjun Sarja and Mayilsamy were among those who paid their respects to the mortal remains on Saturday.
“It is not fair to criticise people from the fraternity who did not turn up as the situation is not ideal and we are not aware of their positions. It is not the time to criticise others,” said Bharathiraja reacting to questions about the conspicuous absence of Kollywood personalities
Around 10.15am, public entry was stopped, after which the last rites began. Tiruvallur district police barricaded entry routes and were turning away public who thronged towards Tamaraipakkam.
Following religious rituals, the ceremonial guard of the Tiruvallur police took over around noon.
With the police band playing, the ceremonial guard of 24 policemen fired 72 bullets towards the air as part of the police honours. Subsequently, the mortal remains of SPB was lowered into the burial pit around 12.30 pm, after which rituals were observed.
