Narendra Singh Negi, also referred as 'Garh Ratan' and 'Bob Dylan of the hills' is one of the most prominent folk singers, composer and a poet of the Garhwal and Uttarakhand who prominently sings in Garhwali language. Reportedly, he has sung more than 1000 songs. His unparalleled work in the field of folk music of Uttarakhand is an inspiration for all the upcoming singers of Uttarakhand.
Pandit Shivnath Mishra is an Indian sitarist. He is an exponent of the Benares Gharana school of Indian classical music. He was formerly a lecturer and the Head of the Music Department at the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi.
Chandan Tiwari is an Indian folk singer from Bihar. She is known as folk singer and sings in Bhojpuri, Nagpuri, Awadhi and Hindi. She was awarded Sangeet Natak Academy-Bismillah Khan Samman. She was honoured by Bhojpuri Kokila in Kolkata. BAG Films-News 24 awarded her best traditional folk singer. She appeared in India Today Magazine in cover story for her contributions to Indian folk music. She has been singing in various forms of folks like Purabi Sohar, Pachra Gandhi song, River Song, Chhath Song Kajri and Thumri.
Jamuna Tudu is an Indian environmental activist. She and five other women prevented illegal felling of trees near her village and this later expanded into an organisation. She is called ‘Lady Tarzan’ for taking on the Timber mafias and Naxals in Jharkhand.
Hiralal Yadav was an Indian folk singer, who was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2019. He was awarded the Yash Bharti Award in 2015.
Bharat Goenka is an industrialist from India. He is the co-founder and managing director of Tally Solutions. In 2020, he received the Padma Shri honour from the Government of India for his contribution in the field of trade and industry.
Prof. Kamla Srivastava is an Indian folk music singer. She retired as assistant professor in Musicology-cum-practical of Bhatkhande Music Institute, deemed university of Lucknow. An artiste much in demand and invited to sing at programs throughout the month, she comes from the family of artists and poets. She sings folk, light and classical music at All India Radio, Doordarshan and Sri Lanka Radio. She is also a poetess and writes lyrics in Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Hindi.
Radhe Shyam Barle is a Panthi folk dancer and artist. In 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contribution in the field of art. Barle has made his contribution in promoting and disseminating the messages of Baba Guru Ghasidas through Panthi, a folk dance form in Chhattisgarh. Barle was born in 1966 in village Khola of Patan tehsil in Durg district of Chhattisgarh, India. He holds an MBBS and later completed a diploma in folk music from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya. He is a regular artist in Doordarshan and All India Radio and has also participated and performed in many Mahotsav (festivals) across the country.
Sonroopa Vishal is Indian writer, poet and author, who writes in the Hindi language. The State Government of Uttar Pradesh awarded her with the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Navodit Geetkaar Award in 2015 and Jagadish Gupta Sarjana Award in 2019. Sonroopa Vishal has published three books, including Likhna Zaruri Hai (2014) and America Aur 45 Din (2018), and co-authored several books.
Dulari Devi is an Indian artist and illustrator, working in the Mithila art tradition. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Padma Shri, a civilian honour granted by the Government of India, for her contributions to art.
Sarvesh Asthana is an Indian poet, writer and satirist, who writes and performs in the Hindi language. He has authored around 12 books. Asthana has contributed to various genres of Hindi literature, including Hasya Kavita, Vyangya (satire) and Bal kavita. He was honored with the Yash Bharati, the highest civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh for his contribution in the field of literature in 2016. He is also the recipient of the Sohan Lal Dwivedi Award by the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Asthana was appointed the Advisor to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in 2019.
Daya Prakash Sinha, also known as D. P. Sinha, is an Indian retired IAS officer, currently serving as the national convener for BJP Cultural Cell and vice-president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He is also a director, writer, dramatist and playwright, known for his Hindi plays such as Samraat Ashok, Seedhiyan,, Katha Ek Kans Ki, Itihas Chakra and Rakt Abhishek. He is a recipient of Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the Republic of India. His theatrical works have been published and staged for 50 years and translated into many languages.
Himmat Ram Bhambhu is a nature activist, wildlife conservationist and environmental activist. He has received Padma Shri from Indian Government.
Avadh Kishore Jadia is a poet and author in the Bundeli language and the Braj language from the Chhatarpur district in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. He was also an Ayurveda medical practitioner in the Madhya Pradesh Govt Service. In the year 2022, Govt of India honored him by conferring the Padma Shri award for his contributions as an author in the Bundeli and Braj languages.
Vidya Vindu Singh is an Indian author in Hindi and Awadhi languages. She is best known for her broad work in folk and children's literature. Singh has been awarded Padma Shri in 2022 by the Government of India for her contributions in the field of literature & education.
Sanjay Nishad is an Indian politician serving as a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh Government. He has been a Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council since 2021. Belonging to the Nishad caste, he founded the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal or NISHAD Party in 2016.
Ramdarash Mishra is an Indian poet and litterateur. Ramdarsh has to his credit 32 collections of poems, 30 short-story collections, 15 novels, 15 books of literary criticism, 4 collections of essays, travelogues, and several memoirs.
Ramdayal Sharma is an Indian Nautanki artist. He is also a singer, composer and teacher. In 2022, he was awarded Padma Shri, and in 2015, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the Indian Government for his contribution in Arts.
Kamalakar Tripathi, born in Madanpur, is an Indian physician and former professor in the Department of Medicine, BHU Institute of Medical Sciences. He has been the Head of Nephrology Department. He currently resides in Ravindrapuri Extension of Varanasi.
Ramyatna Shukla, also written Ram Yatna Shukla (1932−2022) was an Indian scholar and linguist of the Sanskrit Language from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and contributed to conserving ancient and Sanskrit texts. He was the president of Kashi Vidvat Parishad, a body of scholars and saints in India. He was also known as Abhinav Panini, named after Sanskrit philologist and grammarian Pāṇini. He contributed to inventing new methods of Sanskrit grammar and Vedanta teaching and modernisation. He was the recipient of Padma Shri in 2021. He ran a program to connect the new generation with Sanskrit by providing free education.
