Chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi, Dr. Sandhya Purecha.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
The Sangeet Natak Akademi on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) selected seven eminent personalities in the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna) and awarded 108 artistes from the fields of music, dance and other performing arts for the year 2024-25.
The Akademi is the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama is India’s apex national body for the performing arts. Established in 1953 and functioning under the Ministry of Culture, it is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and documenting the diverse intangible cultural heritage of India.
Ramlal Bareth, A.V. Anand, Rita Ganguly, Puru Dadheech, Chittaranjan Jyotishi, Pasumarthi Rattaiah Sarma and Sudharani Raghupathy were those selected as fellows unanimously at the General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, held from March 22-26 this year.
The fellowship of the Akademi is a most prestigious and rare honour, which is restricted to 40 at any given time.
The General Council also selected 108 artists from the field of Music, Dance, Theatre and others in performing arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the years 2024 and 2025.
The Fellows and Awardees so selected represent the nation as a whole, and belong to different States and Union Territories of India. Besides, these eminent artists cover the entire gamut of the performing art forms expressed in the form of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal art, puppetry, and allied theatre art forms, etc, the Akademi said in an official statement.
The General Council of the Akademi has also selected 106 young artists for Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the years 2024 and 2025. These awards will be conferred by the Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi in a special ceremony.
The Akademi Awards have been conferred since 1952. The award of Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of ₹3,00,000(Rupees three lakh only) while the Akademi Award carries a purse money of ₹1,00,000 (Rupees one lakh only), besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries a prize money of ₹25,000 (Rupees twenty-five thousand only) besides a Tamrapatra and an Angavastram.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and Awards will be conferred by the President of India in a special investiture ceremony.
Published – June 11, 2026 06:42 am IST
