Thousands of people in Mumbai for last rites of Lata Mangeskhar

Thousands of people have gathered in Mumbai to pay respects to beloved singer Lata Maneshkar. One of the biggest cultural icons of the country, Mangeshkar died on Sunday. She was 92.

Mangeshkar made her name in the world of Bollywood and her voice has rung out on television sets, on crackly airwaves and from movie theatres for most of independent India's three quarters of a century, earning her the title "the Nightingale".

"I am anguished beyond words," Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter. "She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled." He travelled to Mumbai for the funerals for Mangeskhar, local media reported.

"The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people," Modi said.

Other Bollywood personalities and politicians also paid tribute. "The voice of a million centuries has left us," veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan said.

Thousands gathered outside Mangeshkar's house in south Mumbai, where police barricaded roads and controlled traffic as top politicians and Bollywood personalities streamed in to pay their respects, television footage showed.

Mangeshkar died on Sunday morning of "multi-organ failure after more than 28 days of hospitalisation post COVID-19", said Pratit Samdani, who was treating her at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital, according to Reuters TV partner ANI.