It was an honour to be was conferred SANGEET SHIKAR SAMMAN by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Delhi in recognition of her distinguished services to Indian Classical Music- Saraswati Veena. This is the first time that Saraswathi Veena, the National Instrument of India, has been given this award.
Hon’ble Dr Rajiv Kumar Vice Chairman of NITI Ayog , Govt of India’s Think Tank (Cabinet Min Rank) reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India, was the chief guest on the occasion on 8th Nov at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi and he gave away the award.
The award was instituted in 2010 and has been bestowed on eminent artistes. The award includes a purse of Rupees 1 lac, a citation and a shawl.
Some of the earlier awardees are Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Smt. Girija Devi, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Ms. Yamini Krishnamurthy, Prof. T.N.Krishnan, Pandit Jasraj to name a few. To be added to this distinguished list, that too, as the youngest recipient of this award has been a humbling experience for me.
I dedicate the award to my Gurus, my mother Smt. Lalgudi Rajalakshmi and my aunt and Guru Smt. Padmavathi Ananthagopalan who made me the artist I am today.
Musically,
