SP Balasubrahmanyam Laid To Rest In Chennai Farmhouse Amid Tearful Farewell

CHENNAI: ‘Gaana Gandharva’, India’s legendary playback singer Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam was cremated with full state honours here on Saturday amid tearful farewell from friends and well-wishers and millions of fans who watched on television across the world. SP Balu or SPB, as SP Balasubrahmanyam was fondly called, breathed his last on Friday afternoon after battling for life for 40 days at the MGM Healthcare hospital here.

The iconic singer’s final resting place was chosen inside his farmhouse, SPB Gardens, in Tamaraipaakkam on the outskirts of Chennai. The ritual for his final rites was performed as per ‘sroutha saiva vaidika saiva’ tradition followed by the Sripathi Panditharadhula family. His son SP Charan performed the rituals as per the customs. Before SPB’s mortal remains were buried, a guard of honour was given by a team of Tamil Nadu police. They fired in the air a few times before lowering their weapons as a mark of respect for the departed singer.

Tamil superstar ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay was among the film industry personalities who attended the funeral and consoled SP Charan and other family members.

Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Anil Kumar Yadav too attended the funeral as the representative of SPB’s native state. Incidentally, SPB hailed from Nellore district and his ancestral family house is located in Anil Kumar Yadav’s Assembly constituency. On Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister expressed his profound grief over the passing away of the celebrated singer. He also spoke to SPB’s son Charan and consoled him.

Despite appeals by the Thiruvallur police, a large number of SP Balu fans flocked to the SPB Gardens to pay their last respects to their singing idol. However, only the close family members and well-wishers besides important film industry personalities were allowed inside in adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines. The Thirvallur superintendent of police has issued a passionate appeal to the public on Friday night asking them to not throng the funeral place due to the virus pandemic.

The SPB family also altered their original plans and shifted his mortal remains to the farmhouse on Friday night itself to avoid public crowding and traffic inconvenience on Saturday. It was originally planned to keep his body at Satyam Theatre on Saturday morning before embarking on his last journey to the farmhouse.