Mumbai, September 22, 2013: “Dear Subbulakshmi, Rajaji has told me everything about your good work in connection with Kasturba Memorial Fund by using your musical gifts. May God Bless You.”

This letter addressed to legendary singer M.S. Subbulakshmi and signed by Mahatma Gandhi now adorns the Portrait Gallery named after her and inaugurated on Saturday at Shanmukhananda Hall in Matunga. The gallery is a tribute to giants in the field of music.

West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan also unveiled an eight-foot high ebonite statue of the singer holding a Tanpura. It is placed at the entrance of the cultural institution.

Mr. Narayanan, while speaking to a packed hall, reminisced about his childhood which, he said, was filled with visits to a “divine singer.” “Her house was separated with our neighbours’ by a wall. She would ask my mother to come and listen to her sing,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, September 22, 2013