BBC News Last Updated: Monday, 21 August 2006, 08:50 GMT 09:50 UK
India shehnai maestro dies at 91
Legendary musician Ustad Bismillah Khan, India's best known shehnai player, has died aged 91.
He suffered a heart attack in hospital in his home city of Varanasi early on Monday, his private secretary said.
Khan is credited with popularising shehnai, a wind instrument which can be loosely compared to an oboe, and elevating its status in India.
India's government has declared a day of national mourning. A state funeral is to be held later on Monday.
Jewel of India
Bismillah Khan was admitted to hospital last week after he complained of weakness.
A practising Muslim, he made the Hindu holy town of Varanasi (also known as Benares) his home and could often be seen playing by the banks of the holy river Ganges, offering prayers to the Hindu goddess of learning, Saraswati.
Khan often played shehnai in the local temples too.
He was seen as a symbol of India's religious pluralism and harmony for people of different faiths, and was awarded the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), in 2001.
A high point in his career was when he played shehnai at Delhi's Red Fort on the eve of India's Independence in 1947.
Born on 21 March, 1916, into a family of court musicians, Khan started training at the young age of six and was soon regarded as a master in his own right.
He was known for living a simple and austere life at his home in a narrow alleyway of Varanasi and cycle-rickshaw was his favourite mode of transport.
His body is being kept in a park in Varanasi to enable people to pay their last respects before his funeral.