Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship


The Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship, officially known as Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Sadasya, 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.

Background

In 1945, The Asiatic Society of Bengal submitted a proposal to establish a National Cultural Trust consisting of three academies: an Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, an Academy of Letters, and an Academy of Art and Architecture. The proposal was reconsidered in the Conference on Art held in Kolkata in 1949, and two conferences, the Conference on Letters, and the Conference on Dance, Drama, and Music, were held in New Delhi in 1951. All three conferences were organized by the Government of India and recommended the establishment of three national academies: an Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, an Academy of Letters, and an Academy of Art.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi, established on 31 May 1952 by a resolution of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, headed by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, is India's National Academy for Music, Dance, and Drama. The Akademi was officially inaugurated on 28 January 1953 by the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad and P. V. Rajamannar was appointed as its first Chairman. The first members of the Executive Board of the Akademi consisted of Maharaja Sri Sir Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Bahadur, T. L. Venkatarama Aiyar, S. N. Mozumdar, N. R. Ray, Dharma Vira, A.K. Ghosh, J. C. Mathur, and A. V. Venkateswaran. Other two institutes were established later; the Sahitya Akademi was inaugurated on 12 March 1954 and the Lalit Kala Akademi was inaugurated on 5 August 1954. Later, on 11 September 1961, it was reorganized as a society and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Though the Sangeet Natak Akademi functions as an autonomous organization of the Ministry of Culture, its programmes are completely funded by the Government.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi is defined as "the apex body of the performing arts" in the country and primarily focuses on "preserving and promoting the vast intangible heritage of India's diverse culture expressed in the forms of music, dance and drama". The Akademi has also established various institutions in the fields of performing arts: the National School of Drama in New Delhi in 1959, the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy in Imphal and the National Institute of Kathak Dance in New Delhi in 1964, and the Koodiyattam Kendra in Thiruvananthapuram in 1990. Since 1965, the Akademi also publishes a quarterly journal, Sangeet Natak.

Description

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship is conferred without distinction of nationality, race, caste, religion, creed, or sex. The criteria restricts any person below the age of 50 to ordinarily be considered for the honour, although a minimum age of 35 is required. Persons who are already deceased do not qualify; if an honoree dies before the honour is conferred, however, the honour will be assigned posthumously. The criteria also excludes any institution along with the members of the General Council of the Akademi from consideration. The fellowship does not refer to any specific work or achievement of an artist but to the "significant and lasting contribution on a sustained basis over a period of time". The recommendations are received from the current fellows along with the members of the General Council of the Akademi.
The fellowship was established in 1954 and the first elected fellows were Carnatic music vocalist Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Veena player Karaikudi Sambasiva Aiyer, and film and theatre actor Prithviraj Kapoor., the fellowship has been conferred upon 144 individuals, including 29 dancers, 31 theater performers, 75 musicians, and 9 individuals awarded for their overall contributions in all three fields. Since its inception, the honour has been bestowed upon 26 female artists and, in 1958, a Hindustani classical vocalist, belonging to the Bhendibazaar gharana, Anjanibai Malpekar became the first woman fellow of the Akademi. A French national and musicologist Alain Daniélou is the only non-Indian national awarded with the fellowship.
As per the constitutional provision under Rule 12 of the Rules and Regulations of the Akademi, the number of fellows is restricted to 30. On 25 March 2003, the General Council of the Akademi recommended restricting the number of fellows to 40 living persons and a total of 60 at any given time. However, the recommendation is not yet approved by the Ministry., there are 36 Fellows of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Each recipient is awarded with a cash prize of, an Angavastram, and a Tamrapatra given under the seal of Akademi and signature of its Chairman. The most recent recipient of the fellowship is Bharatanatyam dancer C. V. Chandrasekhar who was awarded for the year 2015.

List of fellows


YearImageRecipientField
1954Music
1954Music
1954Theatre
1958Music
1962Music
1962Music
1962Dance
1962Music
1963Music
1963Music
1963Music
1963Theatre
1964Music
1964Music
1964Music
1964Music
1964Music
1964Theatre
1965Music
1965Music
1965Music
1965Music
1965Music
1966Music
1966Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1966Theatre
1966Music
1967Theatre
1967Dance
1967Music
1967Music
1967Dance
1967Dance
1967Dance
1967Theatre
1968Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1970Music
1970Dance
1970Music
1972Music
1972Music
1972Music
1973Theatre
1974Theatre
1974Music
1974Music
1975Dance
1975Music
1975Theatre
1975Music
1975Music
1976Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1976Music
1977Music
1978Music
1978Theatre
1979Theatre
1979Music
1979Music
1979Dance
1980Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1982Dance
1982Music
1984Music
1984Theatre
1984Music
1986Music
1986Music
1986Music
1986Theatre
1989Music
1990Theatre
1990Dance
1991Music
1991Dance
1991Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1992Music
1992Music
1992Music
1993Theatre
1993Dance
1994Music
1994Music
1994Overall Contribution/Scholarship
1995Music
1996Dance
1996Music
1996Theatre
1997Theatre
1998Music
1998Dance
1998Dance
1998Theatre
2001Music
2001Theatre
2001Dance
2002Music
2002Theatre
2004Dance
2004Music
2004Other performing arts
2004Dance
2004Theatre
2004Theatre
2006Dance
2006Music
2006Music
2006Theatre
2006Dance
2007Overall Contribution/Scholarship
2008Theatre
2008Dance
2008Music
2008Music
2009Music
2009Music
2009Music
2009Dance
2009Theatre
2009Theatre
2010Music
2010Music
2010Dance
2011Music
2011Music
2011Dance
2011Theatre
2011Theatre
2011Overall Contribution/Scholarship
2011Music
2011Dance
2011Music
2011Dance
2012Music
2012Theatre
2012Music
2013Theatre
2013Dance
2013Dance
2014Music
2014Music
2014Music
2014Theatre
2015Dance
2016Music
2016Music
2016Theatre
2016Overall Contribution/Scholarship

Explanatory notes