Singer Dwijen Mukhopadhyay passes away

The world of music has lost another of its much-revered artistes, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay whose contributions have enriched it for more than half a century.

The legendary artiste passed away at the age of 91, in his Salt Lake residence in Kolkata around 1:30pm yesterday.

Born in 1927, Mukhopadhyay recorded over 1,000 Tagore songs, the first being “Tumi kyamon kore gaan koro hey guni” in 1951.

The Rabindra Sangeet exponent, who was honoured with Padmabhushan and Banga Bibhusan awards, also composed music for Bangla films. In 2010, he was awarded with the Bangabandhu Award by the Bangladesh government.

The maestro had recently been suffering from various age-related ailments. He was admitted to a government hospital in September with severe lung infection, and was later discharged when his condition had improved slightly. Mukhopadhyay, however, did not recover completely, according to Indian newspaper Business Standard.

Expressing condolences for his death, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it was a personal loss for her. She also said that the singer's last rites will be performed with full state honours.

"I am at a loss for words. Dwijen da's death marks the end of an era, a huge loss for the music industry. I shared a very cordial relationship with Dwijen da,” she said.