Sangeet Natak Akademi

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Sangeet Natak Akademi
AbbreviationSNA
Formation1953;72 years ago (1953)
HeadquartersRabindra Bhawan, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi, India
Region served
India
Chairperson
Sandhya Purecha
Vice Chairman
Joravarsinh Jadav
Parent organisation
Ministry of Culture, Government of India. [1]
Website sangeetnatak.gov.in

Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Contents

History

It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and became functional the following year, with the appointment of its first chairman, Dr. P. V. Rajamannar. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, inaugurated it on 28 January 1953 in a special function held in the Parliament House. The academy's Fellowship and Award are considered very prestigious. [2]

Functions

Rabindra Bhawan, Delhi which houses the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi and Sahitya Akademi. Rabindra Bhawan, Delhi.jpg
Rabindra Bhawan, Delhi which houses the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi and Sahitya Akademi.

Sangeet Natak Akademi is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. [3] The academy functions as the apex body of the performing arts in the country to preserve and promote the vast cultural heritage of India expressed in music, dance and drama. It also works with governments and art academies in states and territories of the country.

It's main functions are-

Institutions and centres

SNA established several institutions over the years:

The Sangeet Natak Akademi's South India Cultural Centre, or Dakshin Bharat Sanskritik Kendra, is located in Hyderabad. It was inaugurated on 12 February 2024 by former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister Kishan Reddy.

Facilities

The academy is an important source of information and offers the following facilities.

Audio–visual archive

The academy's audio-visual archive has several audio/video tapes, photographs and films. It is the largest archive of its kind in the country and is extensively drawn upon for research on the performing arts of India.

Library

The academy maintains a reference library consisting of about 22,000 books.

Books on several subjects including Dance, Drama, Music, Theatre, Sociology, Folklore, Tribal Studies, Indian History and Culture, Indian Art, Religion and Epics, Mythology, Anthropology and Reference works such as Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Yearbooks, Bibliographies, Indexes and Newspaper clippings about Academy Awards and eminent artistes in the field of performing arts, can be found here.

The academy has a museum-cum-gallery of musical instruments in Bhapang vadan, New Delhi. There are more than 200 musical instruments on display here.

Documentation unit

It has a documentation unit that collects and records works of masters in the field of music, dance and theatre on audio and video to help researchers. The academy produces several in-house publications.

Awards and fellowships

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is the highest national recognition given to practicing artists, gurus , employees and scholars. It carries a purse money of Rs. 1,00,000/-, [7] a shawl, and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque). The number of awards given annually is 33 at present and, till date, over 1000 artists have been honoured.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya

Each year the Academy awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships, Ratna Sadsya, to distinguished individuals for their contribution to the field of arts, music, dance and theatre. The first Fellow of the Akademi was elected in 1954, and till date, the Akademi has honoured 123 eminent personalities as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna).

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar

Instituted in 2006, in memory of Ustad Bismillah Khan, this award is given to young artists (under 40 years of age) for their talent in the fields of music, dance and drama. [8]

Tagore Ratna and Tagore Puraskar

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna and Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Puraskar were conferred. These awards were given at events in Kolkata – Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Samman on 25 April 2012 [9] and in Chennai Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Samman on 2 May 2012. [10]

Kala Deeksha Initiative

Sangeet Natak Akademi has started Kala Deeksha Initiative which is carrying on Guru Shishya Parampara. It was launched by Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER, Shri G. Kishan Reddy. [11]

Indian classical dances

The Sangeet Natak Akademi confers awards on nine [12] Indian classical dance forms:

  1. Bharatanatyam: originating in Tamil Nadu
  2. Kathak: originating in Northern India
  3. Kathakali: originating in Kerala
  4. Kuchipudi: originating in Andhra Pradesh
  5. Manipuri: originating in Manipur
  6. Mohiniaattam: originating in Kerala
  7. Odissi: originating in Odisha
  8. Sattriya: originating in Assam
  9. Chhau: originating in Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal

See also

Related Research Articles

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Munna Shukla was a Kathak guru and choreographer of Lucknow Gharana based in New Delhi, India. Born to a family who has been involved in dance for generations, Munna Shukla specialized in Kathak, a classical dance form of North India. He was a grandson of the noted Kathak Maestro, Late Achhan Maharaj, and a nephew of Birju Maharaj.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Akademi. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Akademi and is "restricted to 40 individuals at any given time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santidev Ghosh</span> Indian author, singer, actor, dancer (1910–1999)

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Bayanacharya Ghanakanta Bora Muktiyar is a choreographer and guru (Mentor) of Sattriya dance, a major classical dance tradition of Assam, India and Pakistan. He is also a renowned instrumentalist and author. He has won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001.

National Institute of Kathak Dance, also known as Kathak Kendra, is the premier dance institution for the Indian classical dance form of Kathak, and a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, situated in New Delhi. Established in 1964, the institution is primarily dedicated to Kathak, though it also offers courses in Hindustani classical music (Vocal) and Pakhawaj and Tabla.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya Rao</span> Indian classical dancer and choreographer (1928-2014)

Maya Rao was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and educator, in Kathak dance. She is known for her pioneering work in Kathak choreography, especially in dance ballets, and is credited for bringing Kathak, a North Indian-dance style to South India, when she opened her dance school, Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (NIKC) in Malleswaram, Bangalore in 1987. She was also the founder director of her dance company, "Natya and Stem Dance Kampni", an amalgam of NIKC and the STEM Dance Kampni based in Bangalore. After her early training under Guru Sohanlal of Jaipur Gharana, followed by Guru Sunder Prasad also of the Jaipur Gharana, and went to train under Guru Shambhu Maharaj of Lucknow Gharana at Kathak Kendra in Delhi.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tagore Ratna and Tagore Puraskar</span> Award

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vibha Dadheech</span> Indian classical dancer

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References

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  8. "Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar" . Retrieved 21 February 2019.
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