• President Droupadi Murmu presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards to a total of 94 artistes from varied fields of performing arts for 2022 and 2023.

• She also gave the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship to seven eminent artistes, including one joint fellowship, during a ceremony held at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on March 6. 

• The Akademi fellowship carries a prize money of Rs 3 lakh, while the Akademi award carries a prize money of Rs 1 lakh, besides a ‘tamrapatra’  and ‘angavastram’. 

• The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama selects eminent personalities in the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows.

Sangeet Natak Akademi

• Sangeet Natak Akademi is the apex body in the field of performing arts in the country.

• It was created by a resolution notified in June 1952. The Akademi became functional the following year. The first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, inaugurated it on January 18, 1953.

• It was set up for the preservation and promotion of the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in forms of music, dance and drama. 

• Sangeet Natak Akademi is an autonomous body of the ministry of culture and is fully funded by the government for implementation of its schemes and programmes.

• The functions of the Akademi are set down in the Akademi’s Memorandum of Association, adopted at its registration as a society on September 11, 1961. 

• The registered office of the Akademi is at Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi. 

• The management of the Akademi vests in its General Council. 

• The chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years. 

• The Akademi coordinates and collaborates with government and art academies of different states and Union Territories, as also with major cultural institutions in the country.

Two constituent units of Sangeet Natak Akademi are dance-teaching institutions. They are:

i) The Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) at Imphal. JNMDA has its origin in the Manipur Dance College established by the government in April 1954. Funded by the Akademi since its inception, it became a constituent unit of the Akademi in 1957.

ii) Kathak Kendra in Delhi. It is one of the leading teaching institutions in Kathak dance. Located in Delhi, it offers courses at various levels in Kathak dance and in vocal music and Pakhawaj.

Besides the constituent units, the Akademi presently has five centres:

i) Kutiyattam (Koodiyattam) Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram for preserving and promoting the age-old Sanskrit theatre of Kerala.

ii) Sattriya Kendra, Guwahati for promoting the Sattriya traditions of Assam.

iii) North-East Centre, Guwahati for preserving the traditional and folk performing art traditions of north-eastern India.

iv) North-East Documentation Centre, Agartala for festival and field documentation in the northeast. 

v) Chhau Kendra, Chandankiyari for promoting the Chhau Dances of eastern India.

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are the highest national recognition conferred on practising artists. The Akademi also confers Fellowships on eminent artists and scholars of music, dance and drama. In 2006, it instituted annual awards to young artists – the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. 

• The Akademi’s Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) carries a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh and the Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Awards) carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

• The Akademi’s archive, comprising audio and video tapes, photographs, and films is one of the largest in the country and is extensively drawn upon for research in the performing arts.

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