DHAKA, Dec 12, 2024 (BSS) - Noted Rabindra Sangeet singer and Ekushey-Padak recipient Papiya Sarwar died at a private hospital here this morning after battling with cancer for a long time. She was 72.
 
The eminent singer breathed her last around 8 am at a private hospital here, said family sources.
 
Her namaj-e janaza will be held after the Juma prayers tomorrow, and later she will be buried at Banani graveyard.
 
She is survived by her husband and two daughters.
 
Born in Barishal on November 21 in 1952, Papiya got enrolled at Chhayanaut when she was a student of class VI.
 
She had been a listed artist of Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television since 1967.
 
In 1973, she obtained a degree in Rabindra Sangeet from Bisva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India after getting a scholarship from the government of India.
 
Her first audio album, titled "Papiya Sarwar," was released in 1982, while her last album, titled "Akash Pane Had Baralam, was released in 2013.
 
Papiya won the Rabindra Award in 2013 from Bangla Academy and got the Bangla Academy fellowship in 2015.
 
The noted singer also received the Ekhushey Padak in 2021.
 
Papiya Sarwar was also general secretary of Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad.