President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2016 to an eminent group of musicians, dancers, and theatre artists.
- Noted theatre personality Ram Gopal Bajaj, dancer and historian Sunil Kothari, Carnatic music exponent R Vedavalli and Sitar player Arvind Parikh have conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi’s fellowships (Akademi Ratna).
- In a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kovind also presented Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) to 43 eminent artists in five categories for the year 2016 which included renowned musicologist Pappu Venugopal Rao and renowned dance photographer Avinash Pasricha.
Sangeet Natak Akademi
- Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
- It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and started functioning the following year under its first chairman, Dr. P. V. Rajamannar.
- The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is the highest national recognition given to practicing artists, gurus and scholars. It carries a purse money of Rs. 100000/, a shawl, Sangeet and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque).
Music
| Award |
Awardee |
| Hindustani Vocal Music |
Padma Talwalkar |
| Hindustani Vocal Music |
Prabhakar Karekar. |
| Hindustani Instrumental Music- Tabla |
Arvind Mulgaonkar |
Akademi Awards 2016
| Award |
Awardee |
| Hindustani Instrumental Music-Violin |
Kala Ramnath |
| Carnatic Vocal Music |
Neela Ramgopal |
| Carnatic Vocal Music |
K Omanakutty |
| Carnatic Instrumental Music – Mridangam |
J Vaidhyanathan |
| Carnatic Instrumental Music-Violin |
Mysore M Manjunath |
| Other Major Traditions of Music- Sugam Sangeet |
Ratnamala Prakash. |
| Other Major Traditions of Music – Sugam Sangeet |
Ahmed Hussain and Mohd Hussain. |
| Other Major Traditions of Music – Nata Sankirtana, Manipur |
Ningthoujam Shyamchand Singh |
Classical Dance
| Award |
Awardee |
| Bharatanatyam |
Geeta Chandran. |
| Kathak Dance |
Jitendra Maharaj |
| Kathakali |
Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan |
| Manipuri |
Maisnam Kaminikumar Singh |
| Kuchipudi |
A B Bala Kondala Rao |
| Odissi |
Ratikant Mohapatra |
| Sattriya |
Haricharan Bhuyan Borbayan |
| Chhau |
Gopal Prasad Dubey |
| Contemporary |
Anita R Ratnam |
Theatre
| Award |
Awardee |
| Playwriting |
Kusum Kumar |
| Direction |
Satyabrata Rout |
| Direction |
Bipin Kumar |
| Direction |
Rajkamal Nayak |
| Acting |
Gireesan V |
| Acting |
Oinam Biramangol Singh |
| Acting |
Mohan Joshi |
| Theatre Arts – Music for Theatre |
Anjana Puri |
| Other Major Traditions of Theatre- Yakshgana |
K Govind Bhat |
Traditional/ Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry
| Award |
Awardee |
| Traditional Theatre (Kalavantulu), Andhra Pradesh |
Annabattula Lakshmi, Mangatayaru and Annabattula Leela |
| Folk Music, Gujarat |
Yogesh Gadhavi |
| Folk Music, Himachal Pradesh |
Vidyanand Saraik |
| Traditional Music, Goa |
Somnath D Chari |
| Pala, Odisha |
Laxmidhar Rout |
| Mand, Rajasthan |
Chiranji Lal Tanwar |
| Folk Music (chakri), Jammu & Kashmir |
Gulzar Ahmad Ganie |
| Folk Music, Bihar |
Braj Kishor Dubey |
| Puppetry |
Prabhitangsu Das |
| Puppetry |
Dattatreya Aralikatte |
