A Magnum Photos icon, Rai’s photographs preserved India’s memory through some of its pathbreaking events spanning decades.Published On 26 Apr 202626 Apr 2026Internationally acclaimed photographer Raghu Rai, widely regarded as one of the foremost chroniclers of independent India, has died at the age of 83.The photographer’s family on Sunday announced Rai’s death in a statement, paying tribute to “our beloved”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listA construction engineer by training, Rai was born in a village in what is now Pakistan’s Punjab province before the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent.He went on to become an iconic photographer documenting the complex social and political life of India, with his work ranging from historic turning points to intimate portraits. India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during an election campaign in the 1970s [File: Raghu Rai/The India Today Group via Getty Images]Some of his best-known works include documenting the 1971 independence war of Bangladesh and the 1984 gas leak in the central Indian city of Bhopal that killed an estimated 25,000 people.His photographs from Bhopal became defining visual records of India’s worst industrial disaster. Bodies next to a funeral pyre in the aftermath of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy [Raghu Rai/The India Today Group via Getty Images]In 1972, Rai was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours, for his exceptional work. He also won the inaugural Academie des Beaux-Arts Photography Award, cementing his place on the global stage.“He didn’t just take photographs, he preserved our nation’s memory,” India’s main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, posted in his tribute on X. Former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi with his wife Sonia Gandhi [Raghu Rai/The India Today Group via Getty Images]Known for portraits of India’s political and social elite and photographing its culture and masses with equal alacrity, Rai published dozens of photo-books, including one on the iconic Mughal monument to love, the Taj Mahal. Advertisement His intimate portraits of Nobel Peac …
