Sonam Sherpa funeral today

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 16 Feb 2020, Gangtok: Sonam Sherpa, one of India's celebrated guitarists who passed away following a cardiac arrest in Kurseong on Friday, will be laid to rest at the Dr. Graham's Homes cemetery in Kalimpong on Sunday even as his untimely death continued to be mourned by music lovers across the country.

Sonam's body was taken to Kalimpong from Siliguri on Saturday night and is being kept at his family home Sherpa Lodge in the heart of the town to allow people to pay their last respects to the lead guitarist of Parikrama, one of India's most popular bands. "From Sherpa Lodge, his body will be taken to Dr. Graham's Homes where a prayer service will be conducted at the Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel at 2pm," said a family friend of Sherpa.

After the prayers, his coffin will be taken to the nearby cemetery where his body will be buried at 3pm.

Sonam died of heart attack in Kurseong where he had gone to witness the shooting of a film in which he had scored the music.

Messages mourning the death of Sonam have been flooding the social media with many hailing his musical genius.

"A true Indian legend has passed on.#SonamSherpa was more than a guitar-player. He was a pioneer, a teacher and an inspiration to so many. He was also a good friend and always humble despite his brilliance and popularity. Heartbroken. Truly, truly heartbroken," wrote Vishal Dadlani, one half of the Vishal-Sekhar Bollywood composer duo.

Ehsaan Noorani, another Bollywood composer, was equally effusive in his praise of Sonam the man and musician. "Eternal rocker awesome guitarist and a lovely guy #SonamSherpa has gone into the light … will remember the jams and the hang outs," he said in his post on Twitter.

The multifaceted Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar, too, took to Twitter to hail Sonam as a "true rock star". "In 2008, post Rock On!!, I was part of a 4 city tour with the amazing Parikrama and I can never forget or adequately say how thankful I am for the love and warmth that Sonam Sherpa extended to this first timer on stage…He was a gifted guitarist, a supremely cool guy and a true rock star. RIP brother. Deepest condolences to his family," he wrote.