National Awards in Indian Music and Performing Arts

India’s national and state-level awards in music and performing arts recognize excellence in classical music, dance, theatre, puppetry, folk traditions and related scholarship. These honours are important for Prelims because they often appear in questions on institutions, years, award categories and cash prizes.

Sangeet Natak Akademi: the apex body

The Sangeet Natak Akademi, set up in 1953, is India’s national academy for music, dance and drama and functions as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture. It confers the country’s most prominent recognitions in the performing arts through three major honours.

• Fields covered: Hindustani music, Carnatic music, classical dance, traditional theatre, puppetry, folk and tribal arts, and scholarship.
• Role: Recognition is given for sustained contribution, artistic excellence and, in some cases, lifetime achievement.

Akademi Ratna and Akademi Puraskar

• Akademi Ratna (Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship): The highest honour of the Akademi.
• Limit: Restricted to a maximum of 40 living individuals at any time.
• Eligibility: Persons below 50 years of age are ordinarily not considered.
• First Fellow: Elected in 1954.
• Components: ₹3,00,000, a Tamrapatra and an Angavastram.
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Akademi Puraskar): Recognizes sustained individual work and lifetime contribution in music, dance, theatre, folk, tribal and puppetry arts.
• Origin: Began as the Presidential Awards in 1951 for Hindustani and Carnatic music and were brought into the Akademi framework in 1952.
• Components: ₹1,00,000, a Tamrapatra and an Angavastram.
• Conferment: Presented by the President of India in a special investiture ceremony.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar

• Introduced: 2006
• Purpose: To encourage young talent in the performing arts and give early national recognition.
• Age limit: Up to 40 years.
• Components: ₹25,000, a Tamrapatra and an Angavastram.

Important Prelims point: The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award cash prize was revised from ₹50,000 to ₹1,00,000 in 2009.

Major state-level awards in performing arts

Some state governments also confer highly prestigious awards in the performing arts that are widely recognized across India. Among the most important are the awards instituted by Madhya Pradesh.

• Kalidas Samman: Instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1980 and named after Kalidasa.
• Fields: Classical Music, Classical Dance, Theatre and Plastic Arts.
• Inaugural award: In 1980–81, it was given jointly to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Mallikarjun Mansur.
• Cash prize: ₹5,00,000.
• Tansen Samman: Established in 1980 by the Madhya Pradesh government to honour excellence in Hindustani classical music.
• Named after: Tansen, the renowned Dhrupad exponent in Emperor Akbar’s court.
• Presentation: Given during the annual Tansen Samaroh near the Tomb of Tansen in Behat, Gwalior.
• Cash prize: ₹5,00,000 and a citation.
• Organising body: The Ustad Alauddin Khan Music and Arts Academy organizes the Tansen Samaroh under the Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh.
• Lata Mangeshkar Award: Instituted in 1984 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh to promote excellence in light music and vocal playback.
• Later adoption: Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh also instituted awards in her name.
• Components: Cash purse and a plaque of honour.

Tagore honours

• Tagore Ratna and Tagore Puraskar: Instituted by the Ministry of Culture in 2012.
• Purpose: One-time honours linked to the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
• Nature: The article notes a variable cash component.

Quick comparison of major awards

Key Prelims Takeaways

• Sangeet Natak Akademi was established in 1953 and is the apex national body for performing arts.
• Akademi Ratna is the highest honour, with a cap of 40 living recipients.
• Persons below 50 years are ordinarily not considered for the Akademi Fellowship.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award started as Presidential Awards in 1951.
• Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar is for artists up to 40 years of age.
• Kalidas Samman and Tansen Samman were both instituted by Madhya Pradesh in 1980.
• Tansen Samman is presented during the Tansen Samaroh at Gwalior.