BENGALURU: It’s been one year since the most loved late actor, Puneeth Rajkumar’s death. The family members paid homage by performing religious rituals at his samadhi (grave) at Kanteerava Studios on Saturday.
Actor Shivrajkumar and his family visited the late Puneeth Rajkumar’s home in Sadashivnagar on his first death anniversary. The late Puneeth’s daughter Vanditha, brother Raghavendra Rajkumar and all other family members later went to Kanteerava Studios.
Numerous celebrities, actors and politicians have expressed their anguish on social media.
Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar shared a emotional letter on Twitter captioned “In the Ocean of Memories’. It says, ‘Appu lives amidst us, not only in our memories but in our thoughts and actions too. The strength and support that I have received from hundreds of family members, thousands of his friends, and millions of fans have paved the way for me to keep his vision, his work and worth alive”.
She continued, “Thank you all for your every gesture, showing your affection, love, and respect for Appu and for keeping him alive in you always’.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also shared a memory of Puneeth Rajkumar on Twitter. “A day to reminisce about Puneeth Rajkumar, our beloved Appu who left us on this day one year ago. His death has left a deep void in Kannada cinema. A multi-faceted personality, he was a wonderful actor, playback singer, television presenter & producer. In our hearts forever, Appu!”, he wrote.
Thousands of fans and followers are thronging to the studio to pay tribute on his first death anniversary. Social media pages are filled with tributes to the great actor Puneeth Kumar. Many of the fans have offered tributes to their favourite actors in their own ways.
While one fan had created an Appu art using 46 kg of butter, another fan, Sendhil Kumar, had 46 watermelons showing Puneeth in different expressions right from childhood till his last day.
One of his fans stated that he would continue to perform Puja kunitha until his last breath. Another fan, Rupali, from Salapur in Maharastra, painted a beautiful portrait after being inspired by Puneeth’s social service.
Appu fans from T Narasipura, Muduku Thore, have appealed to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to include the life and achievements of Puneeth Rajkumar in school syllabus just like the sixth standard textbook has the achievements of Dr Rajkumar.
The Rajkumar family had arranged meals for about one lakh people as part of the death anniversary and it was served from the morning till evening.
The Karnataka government will be presenting the ‘Karnataka Ratna’ to the Puneeth Rajkumar posthumous on Karnataka Rajyotsava day, which will be held in front of Vidhana Soudha on November 1. The government has invited Superstar Rajanikanth and Junior NTR for the programme, and many celebrities are expected to participate in the event.
