Google pays tribute to Bhupen Hazarika with doodle

Google on Thursday paid tribute to iconic singer Bhupen Hazarika on his 96th birth anniversary with a doodle that illustrated the musician with a harmonium and his trademark Gurkha cap.

Besides an acclaimed singer, the Bharat Ratna awardee was a composer, poet and filmmaker who created music for scores of films in Assamese, Hindi, Bengali and a few other languages.

''Happy birthday, Bhupen Hazarika! Your songs and films continue to command respect for Assam's rich culture,'' Google said.

It termed Hazarika as one of northeast India's ''leading socio-cultural reformers, whose creations and compositions united people from all walks of life''.

It said the artwork, illustrated by Mumbai-based guest artist Rutuja Mali, ''celebrates Hazarika's work to popularise Assamese cinema and folk music''.

Mali said she went through a few of Hazarika's songs, photos and videos and tried her best to ''reflect his charm'' in the doodle.

A Google doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures of particular countries.

Popularly known as the 'Bard of the Brahmaputra', Hazarika was born on this day in 1926 at Sadiya in Assam.

He graduated with a master's in political science from Banaras Hindu University in 1946, and went on to earn a PhD in mass communications from Columbia University in 1952.

After completing his studies in America, he returned to India to continue his work on songs and films that popularised Assamese culture on both a national and global scale.

Over the course of a six-decade career, Hazarika won several prestigious awards that include the national film award for best music direction in 1975, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, Padma Shri in 1977, Padma Bhushan in 2001, Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1992.

He was given the Bharat Ratna (posthumously) in 2019.

He also held the position of chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi for five years from 1998.

Hazarika passed away on November 5, 2011.