Legendary Bhajan Singer Narendra Chanchal passes away; Daler Mehndi, others express grief

The year 2021 hasn't started on a good note for legendary singers. A few days ago we lost Indian classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. And today we lost yet another gem of a singer. Pouplar Bhajan singer Narendra Chanchal passed away on Friday, January 22. He was aged 80.

Who was Narendra Chanchal?

The legendary bhajan singer breathed his last Friday morning at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi, where he was admitted a few days back. Narendra Chanchal is the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of Mata ka Jagran. His distinct voice had earned him great fame.

Narendra Chanchal was known for his religious songs and bhajans. Apart from performing at live events for a large part of his career, Chanchal was known for singing religious film songs like "Chalo Bulava Aaya Hai" from Avtaar, "Beshak Mandir Masjid Todo" from Bobby among others. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Singer for Bobby.

Awards and accolades

He had won the Filmfare Best Male Playback Singer Award for a Bollywood song 'Beshak Mandir Masjid' of the 1973 movie 'Bobby'.

In March 2020, Narendra Chanchal's video at a Holi function in Delhi's Paharganj area had gone viral. In the video, the veteran devotional singer had sung a bhajan on coronavirus.

The opening line of the song was - Dengue bhi Aaya, swine flu bi aaya, Chikungunya ne shor machaya, Khabre ki ki ho na, O kitthon aaya corona, Maiya ji, kitthon aaya corona (There was dengue, there was swine flu. Chikungunya created some noise, too. All of it made news, but where did corona come from). Chanchal, in the song available on YouTube, underlined the significance of hand hygiene.

Check out some of his songs below

PM Modi, celebrities and cricketers took to social media to express grief

PM Narendra Modi offered condolence

Lata Mangeshkar

Singer Daler Mehndi shared the news of his death on Twitter and wrote, "Deeply saddened to learn that iconic and most loved #NarendraChanchal Ji has left us for the heavenly abode. In prayers for his soul to rest in peace. Heartfelt condolences to his family and legions of fans."

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh also tweeted, "Deeply saddened to learn that iconic and most loved #NarendraChanchal Ji has left us for the heavenly abode. In prayers for his soul to rest in peace. Heartfelt condolences to his family."

Ranvir Shorey wrote on Twitter, "Saddened at the demise of vocalist Sh. Narendra Chanchal, singer of many iconic bhajans & Hindi film songs in history. His unique voice had the ability to pierce straight to a listener's heart, making every listening experience an emotional & spiritual one (sic)."

 May his soul rest in peace...