On Lata Mangeshkar's 1st death anniversary, Sudarshan Pattnaik dedicates 6ft-tall sand sculpture to 'Queen of Melody'

Today is the first death anniversary of Lata Mangeshkar, the evergreen songstress of India.

Renowned sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik paid a tribute to the late Nightingale of India through his art. He dedicated a striking six-foot-tall sand sculpture bearing her likeness, with the message ‘Tribute to Bharat Ratna Lata Ji, Meri Awaaz Hi Pechchan Hai’ at Puri beach Orissa. He shared the picture on his Twitter handle, with the caption, “Remembering Bharat Ratna #LataMangeshkar Ji, the Nightingale of Indian Cinema and legendary singer on Her First Death Anniversary today. My Sand Art with the message “Meri Awaaz Hi Pehechan Hai” at Puri beach in Odisha.”

The singer breathed her last on February 6, 2022, at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. She was 92.


Several public figures as well as her fans remembered the Queen of Melody on her death anniversary, and tributes poured in on social media.

Nitin Gadkari, the transport minister, took to Twitter to pay his respects. He wrote in Hindi, “Greetings to Bharat Ratna winner Lata Mangeshkar ji on her first memorial day.” Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar also penned an emotional tribute to the late legend. Sharing a clip of them interacting, he wrote, “Miss you, @mangeshkar Didi. #ImmortalLataDidi.
Singer Anup Jalota dropped a black-and-white picture of the two bonding over at a seminar, and wrote, “Humble tribute to #BharatRatna Shri #Latamangeshkar ji, Swar Kokila, who raised the honor of India and Hindi music worldwide with her melodious voice.”
Also known as the ‘Voice of the Millennium', Mangeshkar was the mainstay of Indian playback singing, particularly for Bollywood. Multiple generations have grown up with her songs. Over a career spanning over eight decades, she recorded innumerable songs in 36 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. She has also lent her voice to English, Russian, Dutch, Nepali, and Indonesian songs as well. She was also the recipient of several awards, such as the Bharat Ratna and the Dada Saheb Phalke, etc.

Although best known for haunting, melancholic tracks like ‘Lag Jaa Gale’, ‘Sheesha Ho Ya Dil Ho’, ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se’, ‘Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh’ etc, the versatile singer still gave us timeless upbeat tracks like ‘Mere Khwabo Mein Jo Aaye’, ‘Buddha Mil Gaya’, ‘Didi Tera Devar Deewana’ etc.