President Presents Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for 2024 and 2025

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the 2024 and 2025 cycles at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 13 August 2026. The honours covered artists from several Indian States and Union Territories across music, dance, theatre, puppetry, and folk traditions.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also called Akademi Ratna, is the highest honour of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Seven artists received the fellowship in 2024 and 2025, including Ramlal Bareth, A V Anand, Rita Ganguly, Puru Dadheech, Chittaranjan Jyotishi, Pasumarthi Rattaiah Sarma, and Sudharani Raghupathy.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards, also called Akademi Puraskar, are given for excellence in performing arts in India. A total of 115 artists were selected for the combined 2024 and 2025 award cycles, and the awardees represented disciplines such as Hindustani music, Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, theatre, puppetry, Nautanki, Sambalpuri, and Kalbeliya.

Award Components and Institutional Role

Each Akademi Fellow receives a purse of ₹3 lakh, a Tamrapatra, and an Angavastram. Each Akademi Awardee receives ₹1 lakh, a Tamrapatra, and an Angavastram, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi functions as India’s national academy for music, dance, and drama.

Important Facts for Exams

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi was established in 1953 as India’s national academy for music, dance, and drama.
• Akademi Ratna is the highest honour of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
• Vigyan Bhawan is a major conference venue in New Delhi used for national-level official events.
• Kalbeliya is a folk dance tradition associated with Rajasthan.

Preservation of Traditional Arts

The Sangeet Natak Akademi runs the Kala-Diksha programme for the preservation and documentation of traditional arts. Folk and classical art forms in India include oral traditions, performance traditions, and community-based cultural practices from different regions.