Melody queen Lata congratulated

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar received the ‘Pride of India Kala Saraswathi’ award at a ceremony at here on Sunday. The award, which came with a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh, a replica of Charminar, a Veena and ‘Swarna Kankanam’, was presented to the legendary singer by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rosaiah lauded the efforts and contributions of the singer. Several top film actors and singers including Akkineni Nageswara Rao, writer C. Narayana Reddy and singer P. Suseela and senior Congress leader T. Subbirami Reddy were present in the felicitation programme. The event, which was organised by Andhra Pradesh Kala Vedika in association with Department of Culture, started with a host of singers rendering popular Hindi film songs of Lata Mangeshkar.

“I am thankful for the love and affection of Telugu people. I want to come back to Hyderabad and perform once,” said Lata Mangeshkar, after receiving the award.