Mumbai, Oct 26 (IANS):* Renowned kirtan singer Neelkanth Dnyaneshwar Gore-Satarkar, alias Baba Maharaj Satarkar, passed away after a prolonged illness at his home in Nerul in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. He was 89.

His mortal remains will be kept for public darshan at the Vitthal Rukmini Temple in Nerul town and the cremation will take place at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and other top leaders of Maharashtra across political lines have expressed grief over Satarkar’s passing.

Born in the affluent Gore-Satarkar family of Satara, Baba Maharaj Satarkar was a law graduate, a keen sports enthusiast in multiple disciplines and even engaged briefly in a family enterprise.

Trained in singing by Purohit Bawa and Latafat Hussain Khan of the Agra Gharana, Baba Maharaj Satarkar plunged into the three-generations old family traditions at the age of 11, singing ‘kirtans’ and religious preachings in Maharashtra, rest of India and even abroad.

After 1962, Baba Maharaj Satarkar took up ‘kirtan’ singing full-time and dedicated his life to spreading spirituality, the need for clear speech, thoughts and conscience through his popular ‘kirtans’ and discourses, and founded the Shri Chaitanya Spiritual Knowledge Dissemination Institute, and the Shri Baba Maharaj Satarkar Gyanpeeth Pratisthan, through which his grandson continues the family traditions.