President Ram Nath Kovind confers Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, fellowships

Noted theatre personality Ram Gopal Bajaj, dancer and historian Sunil Kothari, Carnatic music exponent R Vedavalli and famous Sitar player Arvind Parikh were conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi's fellowships (Akademi Ratna) by President Ram Nath Kovind on  Wednesday.

In a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kovind also presented Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) to 43 eminent artists in five categories for the year 2016.

Speaking on the occasion, Kovind said while singing or listening to the national anthem, every citizen rises above his and her personal aspirations.

"The energy of music and singing can be seen in a simple fact. Every country has its own national anthem which expresses the feeling of pride of a country. The anthem triggers feeling of patriotism among countrymen," he said.

He said artists should use this power of art in the interest of the society and the country.

Those awarded in the field of music include Hindustani vocalists Padma Talwalkar and Prabhakar Karekar, Tabla player Arvind Mulgaonkar, violinist Kala Ramnath, Carnatic vocalists Neela Ramgopal and K Omanakutty, Mridangam player J Vaidhyanathan, Carnatic violinist Mysore M Manjunath, Nata Sankirtana artist from Manipur Ningthoujam Shyamchand Singh, singers Ratnamala Prakash, and Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain.

According to the details provided by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, nine eminent artists received the award in the field of dance.

Geeta Chandran for Bharatanatyam, Jitendra Maharaj for Kathak, Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan for Kathakali, Maisnam Kaminikumar Singh for Manipuri, A B Bala Kondala Rao for Kuchipudi, Ratikant Mohapatra for Odissi, Haricharan Bhuyan Borbayan for Sattriya, Gopal Prasad Dubey for Chhau, Anita R Ratnam for Contemporary Dance received the award.

Nine noted artists from the field of theatre also received the award from the President. They are Kusum Kumar for playwriting, Satyabrata Rout for direction, Bipin Kumar for direction, Rajkamal Nayak for direction, Gireesan V for acting, Oinam Biramangol Singh for acting, Mohan Joshi for acting, Anjana Puri for allied theatre arts--Music, K Govind Bhat for Yakshgana, a traditional Kannada theatre form.

Ten arists were facilitated for their contribution in the field of traditional art forms which included Annabattula Lakshmi Mangatayaru And Leela Sai (Joint Award) for Andhra Pradesh's traditional theatre (Kalavantulu), folk musicians Yogesh Gadhavi, Vidyanand Saraik, Somnath D Chari, Laxmidhar Raut, Chiranji Lal Tanwar, Gulzar Ahmad Ganie and Braj Kishor Dubey, and puppetry artists Prabhitangsu Das and Dattatreya Aralikatte.

Renowned musicologist Pappu Venugopala Rao and renowned dance photographer Avinash Pasricha received the Akademi's Award for their overall contribution in the performing arts.