Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday visited Gauripur town in Dhubri district to attend the ceremonial handing over of the authority of the singer’s residence, “Hawa Mahal”, by her family members to the state government for its restoration and conversion into a museum, reports The Shillong Times.
The house is located on the banks of Gadadhar river.
It was constructed by Prabhat Chandra Baruah of the Gauripur royal family.
The Assam government paid an amount of Rs 15.20 crore to the family members of Pratima Pandey Baruah for parting with the ownership of their ancestral property, the newspaper reported.
Addressing a public meeting correlating with the event, the chief minister was quoted as saying by the newspaper that converting Hawa Mahal into a heritage monument and a museum would be an appropriate tribute to the “empress of Goalparia lok sangeet” for her extraordinary work in the field of art and music.