By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 5: The mortal remains of poet Hiru da went up in flames at around 1:30 pm on Thursday. His daughter Santa Bhattacharjee Sarma lighted the funeral pyre at the Nabagraha Crematorium here, amid sobs and wails.

Thousands of people were present at the funeral site.

Noted Assamese poet, Hiren Bhattacharyya, better known as Hiru da passed away in a city hospital on Wednesday. He was admitted in the hospital on June 12 after he suffered from asthmatic problems.

Noted sculptor Biren Singha took the foot print of the noted poet and handed it over to the family members of the deceased poet.

People queued up in large numbers on the city streets to pay their last tributes to Hiru da as he set out for his last journey from his home at Zoo Road Tiniali to Nabagraha Crematorium with stopovers at the Artists’ Guild and the All India Radio where fans and admirers paid their last respects to the bard.

Among the prominent persons who paid their last tributes to the great bard at his home were Bhubaneswar Kalita, APCC president; Bijoya Chakraborty, BJP MP; Pradyut Bordoloi, State Power Minister; and Atulananda Goswami, a childhood friend of Hiru da.

Hiru da was widely known for using simple words in his poems.

Besides the Sahitya Academy award, Hiren Bhattacharyya won numerous other awards including the Bishnu Rabha Award (1985), Soviet Desh Nehru Award (1987) and Assam Valley Literary Award for the year 2000.