Fans bid adieu to Zubeen Garg by singing Mayabini as 21 gun salute honours the icon

Guwahati: During one of his concerts way back in 2019, Zubeen Garg had expressed his wish for people to sing Mayabini—one of his most heartfelt songs—when he passes away.

On Tuesday, during his last rites in the outskirts of Guwahati, thousands of his fans, wife Garima, relatives, fellow cultural personalities, police heads and even Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stood in unison and sang Mayabini together as his sister Palme Borthakur lit the eternal pyre of one of Assam's cultural icons.

Mayabini is still a hit from a 2001 Assamese movie Daag produced by Munin Baruah.

Assam police personnel offered 21 gun salute as the iconic singer, musician, actor and filmmaker was cremated with state honours.

Normal life in Assam came to a standstill as the news about Zubeen's death came on Friday afternoon. Markets, offices and educational institutions remained shut as the government declared state holiday for three days.

The body of Garg, 52, who died while swimming in a sea with his friends in Singapore on September 19, reached Guwahati via New Delhi on Sunday morning.

Thousands lined the streets from the airport and sang Mayabini. His grieving fans, who gathered in every nook and corner of Guwahati and rest of Assam, too sang Mayabini, beside many of his heart-touching numbers since the news of his demise reached.

On Tuesday morning, thousands marched together with the flower-decked ambulance carrying his coffin for about 20kms from Arjun Bhogeshor Baruah Sports Complex to the cremation site at Hatimura village near Sonapur in the city's outskirts.

"We fulfilled Zubeen da's wishes by singing Mayabini again today. It was spontaneous, all sang from their hearts in grief," Mridupaban Borgohain, one of his fans, who came rushing from Jorhat, about 400kms away in eastern Assam, told DH.

"I came to be part of Zubeen da's cremation and see him once for the last time," he said." The chants of "Joi Zubeen da," (hail Zubeen brother), Zubeen da amar houk (be immortal Zubeen brother) rent the air as the priests chanted the Vedic slokas.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, other ministers and many others were seen bowing down and offering floral tributes before the cremation.

Since Sunday afternoon, the embalmed body of iconic Garg was kept in the sports complex for mass tributes by his fans.

Post-mortem

Before his last journey to Hatimura, a second autopsy was performed on Zubeen's body at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

A team from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS Guwahati) supervised the autopsy.

CM Sarma on Monday said the government decided to go for the second autopsy in view of the demands by his fans although he was not in favour of the same.

A non-invasive autopsy was done in Singapore. The death certificate issued by Singapore hospital cited drowning as the cause of his death.

But at least 54 FIRs have been filed across Assam seeking a thorough investigation. Many named entrepreneur Shyamkanu Mahanta and his manager Siddharth Sarma as accused in their FIRs.

The FIRs questioned why Zubeen was taken out to the sea despite having health issues and doctor's advice against going to water. A CID investigation has also been ordered. Zubeen was in Singapore to perform at the Northeast Festival organised by Mahanta's firm.