People across the Indian sub-continent have been taking part in a period of national mourning following the death of one of India’s most loved singers Lata Mangeshkar. The singer whose voice can be heard as the soundtrack to hundreds of Bollywood films died on Sunday 6th February. Hundreds of stars from the entertainment world as well as Indian PM Narendra Modi attended the funeral where large crowds gathered to pay their last respects.

Lata had an extraordinary career which lasted over half a century. She recorded thousands of songs in thirty six different languages. Large crowds gathered outside her home where the coffin began it’s journey to a city park where it was publicly cremated. Mr Modi was among those who laid flowers on the pyre.

One mourner, Rajesh Kumar Ram, told the AFP news agency “her voice touches the soul of every Indian. Her songs have been with us all through our lives.”

Due to the fact that she was a much loved singer which many people will have grown up hearing through out their lives, Lata Mangeshkar was given all the privileges of a full state funeral which is an honour that few stars through out India are afforded. This took place at  Mumbai’s Sivaji Park and was reminder of Lata Mangeskhar’s unique appeal. Her songs will have been played at weddings, funerals and other major national events. Her career span more than seven decades which proves that she will have been loved by people through out society, young and old.

Hundreds of people of all ages were able to catch a glimpse of the funeral. This would have been safer at this current time as the funeral was outdoors so there was little risk due to Covid 19. This ensured that the people who attended were able to say good bye to a singer who they will have heard through out their lives and feel closely associated with. They will have followed all the developments through out her career so it would have felt like they were saying good bye to a close friend or family member.

Mangeshkar was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family[12] in 1929, the eldest daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi and Konkani musician, and his wife Shevanti[13] in Indore (in present-day Madhya Pradesh and then the capital of the princely state of Indore which was part of the Central India Agency in British India). Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a classical singer and theatre actor. Her mother, Shevanti (later renamed Shudhamati), a Gujarati woman.

She received her first music lesson from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father’s musical plays (Sangeet Natak in Marathi). On her first day of school she left because they would not allow her to bring her sister Asha with her.

She leaves a legacy as old as independent India itself. It’s hard to name an artist as prolific – aside from her sister Asha Bhosle who was among the mourners at today’s funeral. Lata Mangeshkar has recorded more songs than The Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.

Affectionately known as India’s “Didi” or sister, for millions in this country, and around the world, this loss feels personal. If Bollywood is the soul of India, then Lata Mangeshkar was its beating heart.

Mangeshkar was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai in January after testing positive for Covid-19.

As the news of her death became public, tributes began pouring in to the woman who was often called the “nightingale of Bollywood” for her role as a playback singer, recording the songs that actors would lip-sync on screen.