NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has described renowned singer Dr M S Subbulakshmi as a legendary and iconic figure who mesmerized everyone from Mahatma Gandhi to the common man.

Addressing the gathering at an event to inaugurate an exhibition onSubbulakshmi and release a Commemorative Coin on the occasion of her birth centenary ccommemoration here over the weekend, he said India is a land of rich cultural heritage with music in diverse genres representing the truly myriad mosaic of plurality. Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

The Vice President said what defines India is this rich heritage of music and its unifying role in bringing people together cutting across religions, regions, castes and communities.

He added that the roots of Indian music can be traced to Vedic literature, Sama Veda in particular and as such every note and cadence associated with our ancient music systems have to be preserved and propagated. He further said that this is our bounden duty to see such cultural heritage is preserved which is given to us by our fore fathers and pass it on to the next generation.

Naidu said that Subbulakshmi’s music is immortal and everyone in this country was influenced and thrilled by her music. He said that music acquired a divine dimension when she lent her voice to various compositions. She was the first musician to be awarded Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour and first Indian musician to have performed at the United Nations General Assembly, he added.

Music acquired a divine dimension when somebody like legendary Carnatic singer, late M S Slubbuakshmi lent her voice to various compositions, he said.