Kishore Kumar birth anniversary: Fans demand conversion of his ancestral house into national heritage site

By PTI

KHANDWA: Fans and officials paid tribute to Kishore Kumar on the occasion of his 92nd birth anniversary on Wednesday by offering milk and jalebis, the favourite dish of the legendary singer, at his samadhi near his birthplace Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.

The fans also demanded that the ancestral house of the late singer in Khandwa be converted into national heritage.

“Kishoreda was a Bharat Ratna in its own sense. Instead, his dilapidated house should be converted into national heritage,” said Kishore Prerna Manch’s spokesman Sunil Jain when asked about the demand to confer India’s highest civilian award on the versatile singer-actor.

Kishore Kumar was born in Khandwa town on August 4, 1929.

The 200-year-old property lies in a dilapidated condition because of a dispute among the Ganguly (original surname of the famous actor brothers Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Anoop Kumar) family members, sources associated with the “Ganguly House” in Bombay Bazar area of Khandwa town said.

Among fans, Pune-based actor-director Jagdish Gayakwad, who visits Khandwa every year on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Kumar, said, “I have grown up hearing and singing Kishore Da’s songs and I earn my bread and butter by singing his songs.”

A large number of fans also turned up at the samadhi memorial to pay their respects.

Khandwa collector Anay Dwivedi and superintendent of police Vivek Singh also offered floral tributes.