Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar was laid to rest this morning at the Kanteerava Studios, in Bengaluru, Karnataka - in the presence of his grieving family members, friends and thousands of fans. His last rites were conducted with state honours - next to his father and mother.
The funeral procession started around 6 am on Sunday and the final rites were conducted at 7:30 am. Receiving full state honours, the Indian flag was handed over to Puneeth’s wife Ashwini by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Several iconic members from the South film industry, including Telugu actors Nandamuri Balakrishna, Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Srikanth, Ali, and many others had flown all the way from Hyderabad to pay their last respects to Puneeth Rajkumar at Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium.
#WATCH | Karnataka: People gather in large numbers at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru where the last rites of Kannada actor #PuneethRajkumar will take place today. He passed away on October 29th at the age of 46. pic.twitter.com/hpHu8zGtry
— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2021
Thousands of fans mourned Puneeth Rajkumar’s sad demise and they continued to flock the Kanteerava stadium on Saturday to pay their final respects. The funeral also saw the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar.
Karnataka: People gather on terraces of the buildings around Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru and climb trees around it to catch a glimpse of late Kannada actor #PuneethRajkumar. His last rites will be performed at the Studios today. pic.twitter.com/gUILlsz3UK
— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2021
The Kannada superstar’s family and the government had earlier planned to perform the last rites on Saturday evening, once his daughter, who was in the US, reached Bengaluru. However, it was later decided that the last rites would be held on Sunday.
Also, Puneeth Rajkumar’s death saw grave repercussions amongst his fans as they mourned the late actor. One of the late actor’s hardcore fans from Marur village in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, died on Friday night. The person who has been identified as Parashuram Devammanvar, died at 11 pm due to a heart attack after Puneeth died earlier the same day due to cardiac arrest, reported Hindustan Times.
For the unversed, Puneeth Rajkumar had experienced chest pain for which he was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru, where he later passed away.
Image Source: Instagram/puneethrajkumar.official