Sudarsan Pattnaik pays tribute through his art to Lata Mangeshkar on her first death anniversary

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a six-feet high sand sculpture with the message "Tribute to Bharat Ratna Lata ji -- Meri awaaz hi pehechan hai" at Puri beach in Odisha on her first death anniversary on Monday, February 6, 2023.

Popularly called Latadidi, she had the ability to sing in a range of languages and musical genres. Along with Hindi, she has also recorded songs in Marathi, Bengali, and Gujarati, as well as other regional Indian languages.

Her voice has been a distinguishing element of Indian cinema for more than seven decades. She has performed some of the most well-known and enduring melodies in the chronicles of Indian film music.Latadidi has worked with several of the most well-known music producers and composers of her era  including Naushad, Madan Mohan,  S. D. Burman, Laxmilant Pyarelal and R. D. Burman, among others.

She continued her passion for singing almost to the end of her life, gained popularity and a great deal of appreciation for her contribution to Indian music. She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 1974, Padma Vibhushan in 1989, and Bharat Ratna in 2001 for her remarkable contributions to the music industry.

She passed away from multiple organ failure  on February 6, 2022 in Breach Candy hospital, Mumbai following affliction by Covid.

In her over-seven-decade long career, Mangeshkar sang over 30,000 songs in several Indian languages.