THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: City bade adieu to violinist Balabhaskar on Wednesday. At the final journey too, he had a violin close to his heart. Balabhaskar's body was taken to Santhikavadam with a replica of violin kept on his body. After rituals at his house in Thirumala, the mortal remains were bought to Shanthikavadam at around 10.30 am. Balabhaskar was cremated with state honours. His cousin performed the last rites and at around 11 am the cremation was held.
A huge crowd including his fans, friends and people from all walks of life were present at the crematorium to bid a tearful goodbye to their own 'Balu'. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendaran, Ports Minister Kadannappalli Ramachandran, actors Suresh Gopi, Maniyanpilla Raju and many of City's Music Fraternity were present at Thycad.
Earlier many of his well-wishers and politicians paid respects to Balabhaskar at his home. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, musician Stephen Devassy were among those who paid their respects at the singer’s home.
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On Tuesday the body was kept at University College and later at Kalabhavan for the public to pay homage. "Music was in his veins. He is a musician who could handle both classical and fusion music simultaneously. We have lost a great performer who enthralled the music lovers with live performances," said Kadakampally Subramaniam, a violinist who had known Balabhaskar from childhood.
Balabhaskar along with his wife Lekshmi, daughter Tejaswini and friend Arjun had met with a car accident on September 25 at Pallipuram in which his two-year-old daughter Tejaswani was killed. Balabhaskar, who suffered major injuries in an accident, was under treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He passed away on Tuesday early morning. Lekshmi and Arjun are still under treatment with serious injuries.