Sujata Mohapatra receives Sangeet Natak Akademi award

New Delhi: Acclaimed Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award from President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday. The awards for the year 2017 was presented to 42 artistes from the fields of music, dance, theatre, traditional/folk/tribal music/dance/theatre and puppetry.

The awards were presented during a special ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

The names of the recipients were announced in June last year. According to the Akademi, the awards symbolize the highest standard of excellence and achievements and recognise sustained individual work and contribution.

The award carries with it Rs 100,000, a 'tamrapatra' and an 'angavastram'.

Apart from Mohapatra, those awarded in the field of dance include Rama Vaidyanathan (Bharatanatyam), Shobha Koser (Kathak), Madambi Subramanian (Kathakali), L.N. Oinam Ongbi Dhoni Devi (Manipuri), Deepika Reddy (Kuchipudi), Ramkrishna Talukdar (Sattriya), Janmajay Saibabu (Chhau) and Aashit Desai (music for dance).

Those awarded in the field of music include Lalith J. Rao (Hindustani vocal), Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha (Hindustani vocal), Yogesh Samsi (tabla), Rajendra Prasanna (shehnnai/flute), M.S. Sheela (Carnatic vocal), Suma Sudhindra (veena), Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan (mridangam), Shashank Subramanyam (flute), Madhurani and Haimanti Sukla (sugam sangeet) and Gurnam Singh (Gurbani).

Abhiram Bhadakamkar (playwriting), Sunil Shanbagh (direction), Bapi Bose (direction), Hema Singh, Deepak Tiwari, Anil Tickoo (acting), Nuruddin Ahmed (stage craft), Avtar Sahani (lighting) and Shougrakpam Hemanta Singh (Shumang Leela, Manipur) were awarded for theatre.

Anwar Khan Manganiyar (Rajasthan), Ramchandra Majhi (Bihar), Parvathy Baul (Baul, West Bengal), Saravjit Kaur (Punjab), K.C. Runremsangi (Mizoram) and Mukund Nayak (Jharkhand) were awarded for folk music.

Others awarded in the traditional/folk/tribal music/dance/theatre and puppetry include Prakash Khandge (folk arts, Maharashtra), Jagannath Bayan (traditional music, Khol, Assam), Rakesh Tiwari (folk theatre, Chhattisgarh) and Sudip Gupta (puppetry, West Bengal).

Vijay Verma and Sandhya Purecha were awarded for their overall contribution/scholarship in the performing arts.