Bhimas Group of Hotels proprietor K.V. Ranganathan, popularly known as ‘Bhimas’ Raghu, died on Monday owing to a brief spell of illness. The final rites were performed on Tuesday. He was 68 and is survived by his wife and two sons and a daughter.
A leading hotelier and social activist, Ranganathan was associated with several socio-cultural and charitable organisations in Tirupati during the last four decades.
Ranganathan had served as the president of ‘Tirupati Brahmana Samajam’, ‘Sri Thyagaraja Festival Committee’, among others. He had also spearheaded several movements to safeguard the traditions and culture of the land.
The ‘Bhimas’ Group of Hotels in Tirupati, which he had inherited from his father K.R. Venkatachalam and paternal uncles, remains a symbol of traditional hospitality even today. It receives impressive footfall everyday from ethnic cuisine lovers visiting the pilgrim city from across the southern States.
