Odishi dance Guru Sonal Mansingh, Odishi dancer Surupa Sen and Chhau dancer Tapan Kumar Patnaik will get the National Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, while Odishi dance artist Madhulita Mahapatra will receive Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar this year.
The National Sangeet Akademi’s general council meeting which was held in Guwahati on May 26, 44 artists were nominated for awards for 2018 in different categories like song, dance, theatre, traditional, folk and tribal art. Three of them will get the awards jointly. Besides, 32 artists were selected for the Ustad Bismilah Khan Yuva Puraskar.
Mansingh, besides Zakir Husen, Jatin Goswami and K Kalyansundram Pillai, were unanimously chosen for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow (Ratna) Award.
In dance category, Sen in Odishi and Patnaik in Chhau will receive the Akademi’s award. In song, 11 artists will get the award, while in theatre, nine artists will get the honour. 10 artists have been chosen for award in category of traditional, folk , tribal dance, theatre and Sakhi dance.
The awards will be presented to the artists in a special ceremony by President Ram Nath Kovind.