Sitara Devi, Bhupen Hazarika awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi
Veteran Kathak dancer Sitara Devi and musician Bhupen Hazarika were honoured with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi awards by President Pratibha Patil at a star-studded ceremony here Tuesday.
|Last Updated: Jul 14, 2009, 05:59 PM IST|Source: Bureau
New Delhi, July 14: Veteran Kathak dancer Sitara Devi and musician Bhupen Hazarika were honoured with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi awards by President Pratibha Patil at a star-studded ceremony here Tuesday.The two along with stage designer Khaled Chowdhury and scholar of performing arts RC Mehta were presented the coveted Akademi Fellowship honours at the function in Vigyan Bhavan in recognition of their contribution to performing arts.
Conferring the awards, President Patil made a strong pitch for "sustenance and conservation of performing arts and their traditional masters". She exhorted the Akademi to "identify the masters who today live in meagre conditions and support them".
She said the performing arts were repositories of the "guru-shishya parampara (teacher-disciple tradition) and centuries old oral traditions are all unique to India and their perpetuation was essential to keep alive various aspects of the cultural legacy of the nation".
The Akademi Fellowship carries a purse of Rs 100,000 and a citation. The Akademi Fellowship is restricted to 30 living people at any given point of time.
Besides the fellowship, the general council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi also selected 34 practitioners of music, dance and theatre for 33 awards, including one joint award for the Akademi Puraskar for the year 2008.
Some of those who were honoured by the Akademi`s general council included musicians Ulhas Kashalkar, MR Gautam (Hindustani vocal music), Ramesh Mishra (Sarangi), Krishna Ram Chaudhary (Shehnai), Puranam Purushottama Sastri (Carnatic vocal), dancers Saroja Vaidyanathan (Bharatnatyam), Shashi Shankla (Kathak), Kalamandalam Kuttan (Kathakali) and Ramani Ranjan Jena (Odissi); and theatre personalities like Markand Bhatt, S Ramanujam and Probir Guha.
Shakuntala Nagarkar (Maharastra), Birabar Sahoo (Orissa), Mangi Bai Arya (Rajasthan), L Heramot Meitei, Thang-Ta (Manipur), Lakha Khan Mangniyar (Rajasthan), and Hilda Mit Lepcha (Sikkim) were honoured for their contribution to folk and tribal genres of the arts.
Addressing the gathering, Patil said, "These awards while undoubtedly recognising individual excellence also serve to remind us of the richness, variety and profundity of our cultural heritage."
The president congratulated the Akademi for its work over more than 50 years "in encouraging performing arts and preserving some of the art forms".
"The Akademi must consider exploring options like setting up a digital library to provide people easy access to the wealth of the archival material at the disposal of the library," she said.
Patil urged the Akademi to set up linkages with other institutions across the country and abroad to "promote an exchange of ideas and enrichment of techniques for revival and preservation of folk music, dance and drama".
IANS
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.