Santoor maestro and legendary musician Pandit Shivkumar Sharma’s final rites were performed today at Pawan hans crematorium in Vile Parle, Mumbai. The Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri recipient, who died yesterday morning following a cardiac arrest was given a state funeral, as ordered by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. His mortal remains were wrapped in Indian tricolour. 

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was 84 years old and passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was in poor health due to kidney-related ailments. He was cremated today by his son Rahul Sharma. His funeral was attended by several celebs including renowned flutist and his frequent collaborator Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Roopkumar Rathod, Prachee Shah Paandya, Lalit Pandit, Bijal Meswani and others.

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Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari expressed his condolences on the demise of renowned santoor maestro. In a condolence message, the Governor said, “The news of the demise of Shiv Kumar Sharma is shocking. Shiv Kumar Sharma was instrumental in taking santoor and Indian classical music to the global stage. Sharma was a great artist, guru, researcher, thinker and above all, a kind-hearted human being. Shiv Kumar Sharma mentored many disciples and enriched the world of music with his multifarious contributions.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also expressed his grief on the passing of the legendary and iconic musician yesterday.

(Source: Viral Bhayani)