Bismillah Khan, one of India's best-known musicians and a master exponent of the wind instrument Shehnai, died of heart failure at the age of 90 on Monday, doctors and his aide said.
A one-day national mourning was declared in honour of the legend who had the rare distinction of playing the Shehnai as the Indian flag was unfurled at the historic 17th century Red Fort in New Delhi during India's first Republic Day celebrations in 1950.
On Monday, flags flew at half-mast at government buildings while schools and government offices were closed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Khan lived and died in his hometown of Varanasi. Khan, who was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, was born into a family of musicians who played for royalty.
Khan, suffering from age-related problems, was admitted to a hospital in Varanasi more than a week ago. "So sweet was his Shehnai, no one could play like him and no one will be able to play like him ever," Lata Mangeshkar, India's most famous singer, told a TV news channel. The maestro had said the Shehnai mattered to him more than anything.
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