Young and old music lovers rubbed shoulder to shoulder soon at 0000 hrs on Saturday to pay glowing tributes to noted playback singer and composer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao's on his 88th birth anniversary here.
While youngsters got a rare opportunity to hear the golden melodies, the old turned nostalgic at the music festival organised by Navarasa Kala Vedika here.
The music programme started with the popular ''Bale Manchi Roozu'' and continued till the early hours in memory of
of the great musician who dominated the Telugu film music for over 25 years singing in all over 10,000 songs and composing music for more than 100 movies.
Noted actor Giri Babu, who was honoured with ''Bahu Kala Praveena,'' described Ghantasala as one of the best musicians who had earned a permanent place in the hearts of music lovers through perseverance.
Music director Madhavapedi Suresh praised music maestro Illayaraja who imbibed a lot of qualities from Ghantasala. Both started from the scratch and reached the pinnacle of glory, he opined.
