Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is the most prestigious national award in performing Arts category in India. One of the significant activities of the Akademi has been to give appreciation and honors to artists as it would help in setting standards in these arts, and restore the art and artists to their rightful place in Independent India.The award as of 2003 consists of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram (a shawl), and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque).The awards are given in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other conventional arts and puppetry, and for contribution/ scholarship in the theater arts.
History of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
The body of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards is now more than fifty years old and the great body of practitioners, gurus and scholars in the performing arts honored by the Akademi characterize the nation’s uppermost achievement in music, dance and drama. The Awards in Hindustani and Carnatic music were instituted as early as 1951 and these were known as Presidential Awards. With the arrangement of the Akademi, the Awards came to be known as Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards, and the inauguration became the accountability of the Akademi. The Presidential Awards for 1952 and 1953 were next included in the list of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards
Most popular awards by Sangeet Natak Akademi are:
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna Sadasyata): The most prominent and extraordinary honor of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna Sadasyata) was limited to 30 renowned persons at any given time till last year. The first Fellow of the Akademi was elected in 1954, and till date, the Akademi has honored 123 renowned personalities as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna).
Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Awards): Akademi Awards may be conferred on eminent practitioners, gurus and scholars of music, dance and theatre for sustained individual achievement of high professional order. The Akademi Awards may be conferred annually and the total number of Awards in a year shall not exceed 33. Each Akademi Puraskar (Awards) will carry an amount of Rupees 50000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) in cash, a Citation, an Angavastram and a Tamrapatra to be issued under the seal of Akademi and signature of its Chairman. Besides, they will also be eligible medical insurance cover up to Rupees One Lakh per annum.
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