BENGALURU: Actor Vijaya Raghavendra bid an emotional farewell to his beloved wife Spandana on Wednesday afternoon. Spandana, who was in Bangkok, suddenly died after suffering a heart attack. The body was brought back to Bengaluru in the wee hours on Wednesday.
The last rites of Spanadana were held at the Harishchandra Ghat on Mahakavi Kumvempu Road in Rajajinagaras per the customs on Wednesday in the presence of family members, friends and relatives.
As per the Hindu tradition Vijay Raghavendra’s son Shourya performed the ritual even as brother Srimuruli stood with him and managed all the arrangements.
Earlier in the day, many politicians including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, Home Ministers G Parameshwara, Priyank Kharge and Madhu Bangarappa, Assembly Speaker U T Khader, RR Nagar MLA Muniratna, Congress leader M Veerappa Moily, BJP leaders C T Ravi, Dr C N Ashwath Narayan and others paid their last tributes to Spandana.
A large number of Sandalwood celebrities visited to the house of B K Shivaram in Malleshwaram to bid farewell to Spandana. Among them included Shivarajkumar, wife Geetha Shivarajakumar, Rakshit Shetty, Ravichandran, Yash, Umashree, Rakshita and Prem, Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, Shrinath, Anu Prabhakar, T S Nagabharana, Amulya, Girija Lokesh, Tarun Sudheer, Doddanna, Sharan, Master Anand and Upendra.
The body was kept for public viewing till around 2 pm and all arrangements were made at the place to control crowd. Additional police force were deployed at the Malleswaram house.
After the religious rituals at home, the body taken to the Harishchandra Ghat in a procession. People had lined up on either side of road all through the way for a last glimpse of Spandana.
Spandana, who was on a visit to Bangkok, died on Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack on Monday. Spandana had gone to Bangkok on work four days ago. It is said that her blood pressure dropped and she suffered a heart attack. She had apparently complained of chest pain on Sunday evening. Vijay Raghavendra was also busy in film promotion and later joined wife in Bangkok. Her sudden death has left Vijay’s family in a deep sorrow.