A Final Journey: Honouring the Legend Zubeen Garg
A Final Journey: Honouring the Legend Zubeen Garg
On 23 September 2025, Assam bid farewell to one of its brightest stars — Zubeen Garg. His funeral was more than a ritual; it was a moment when a whole region came together in grief, love, memory, and respect. In this tribute, I try to capture the solemn beauty, the collective mourning, and the legacy etched into that day.
Dawn of a Farewell
The news of Zubeen Garg’s death sent ripples across Assam and beyond. By the time his mortal remains returned from Singapore, where he had passed away under tragic circumstances while swimming, the air was thick with sorrow.
On the night his body landed in Guwahati, thousands gathered — at the airport, on adjoining roads, along every possible path his final journey would take. His wife, Garima Saikia Garg, broke down as she offered floral tributes, placing the Assamese gamosa (a traditional cloth) over the coffin.
A Public Homage
For two days, his body lay at the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex (Sarusajai Stadium), Guwahati. From morning to evening, fans and admirers came in waves. They stood in long queues, braved heat and fatigue, to simply see him one last time, to bow their heads, to touch the hem of his shirt, to leave flowers.
There was an unspoken understanding: more than a star, Zubeen was part of Assam’s heartbeat. His songs were memories, his presence a mirror for many who saw in his journey something of their own.
The Final Rite at Kamarkuchi
On the morning of 23rd, a second post-mortem was conducted at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, as required to address public concern and ensure transparency. From there, the procession began.
The final rites took place in Kamarkuchi NC village, near Sonapur, on the outskirts of Guwahati. It was here, on government-allotted land, that Zubeen was cremated with full state honours.
Rituals, Reverence, and Tears
- His younger sister, Palmee (or Palme) Borthakur, lit the funeral pyre, a deeply personal moment, an act of love and farewell.
- Arun Garg and Rahul Gautam Sharma, close associates, stood beside her during the ceremony.
- His wife, Garima Saikia, was visibly shaken, grief written in each gesture. Hands folded, tears flowing — the heartbreak was not theirs alone, but echoed in thousands around them.
- During the cremation, Assam Police offered a gun salute, a mark of state recognition of his significance.
Music, Memory, and Unity
Amid the solemnity, there were moments when the loss felt almost unbearable, yet deeply communal:
- Fans sang “Mayabini”, one of Zubeen Garg’s beloved songs, among others. His music wasn’t just played; it was lived in those moments.
- As his body was carried in a flower-decked ambulance, draped in the traditional Assamese gamosa, thousands walked alongside in procession.
- Despite the gathering’s scale, there was quiet respect — people from all walks of life, many unrecognised faces, yet united in grief.
Leaders, Solidarity, and Symbols
Many dignitaries and leaders came forward:
- Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was present at the funeral, paid homage, and later captured in photographs walking near the pyre, placing floral tributes.
- Union Ministers, state government leaders, cultural figures — all paid their respects, delivering messages, observing the ceremonies.
In addition, official state symbols were part of the ritual:
- Full state honours, gun salute, the coordination by government officials.
- The place of his funeral — Kamarkuchi — is planned to become a memorial site, preserving not just a grave, but the memory.
Collective Grief & Enduring Legacy
What emerged from the funeral was more than sorrow; it was a reflection of what Zubeen meant to Assam and its people:
- For many, the loss felt deeply personal. At iconic songs, fans wept; at ritual moments, silence spoke louder.
- The rituals themselves combined the spiritual, the cultural, and the civic. They honored not just the man, but what he represented: Assam’s voice, its audacity, its ability to bridge the local and the universal.
- There was also a sense that in allowing everyone to come, to see him off, to touch the coffin, to stand in sun and dust and tears, Assam did what it needed to — it gave space to grief, but also to gratitude.
Reflections: What the Farewell Taught Us
A funeral is an ending — but also a beginning. In Zubeen Garg’s final journey, there are lessons for those who remain:
- Art leaves a mark more real than time. The singing of “Mayabini” showed that songs outlive life; voices carry on in memory.
- Community is made in shared grief. Seeing strangers cry together, strangers comfort each other, is to realise how art binds.
- Home and roots matter. Even as Zubeen had travelled widely, worked in many languages and forms, his heart remained in Assam. His farewell, at that soil, among that people, was fitting.
A Lasting Farewell
When the pyre turned to ashes, and the smoke rose over Kamarkuchi, Assam didn’t lose only a singer. It lost a son, a poet, a constellation of moments people had with him — late-night songs, festival nights, radio echoes, membranes of feeling. But that doesn’t mean he is gone.
For those who listened, who moved when his voice moved, who learned from him, for those who felt less alone when a melody came — Zubeen remains. In every chorus of “Mayabini,” in every young artist who takes up a mic with hope, in the sunrise over Assam, in quiet evenings when music drifts — he lives.
As time passes, people will forget exact dates, perhaps even faces — but they will remember what it felt like: the colours, the melodies, the heartbreak, the pride. And in that remembering, they will keep him alive.
In Conclusion
Zubeen Garg’s funeral was not just a ceremony. It was a collective embrace, a loving send-off, a reaffirmation of the place he held — not only in stages and recordings, but in the heart of Assam. His legacy is in every tear, every song sung at his funeral, every pilgrim’s step to Kamarkuchi, every fan who raised his voice. That legacy endures — beyond ashes, beyond time, beyond loss.
May his voice echo forever. Jai Zubeen Da.
🙏🙏
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