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   Sarasalaya presents KJ SARASA MEMORIAL AWARD to Yogam Santhanam (vocalist) and Bharatanatyam dancer Urmila Sathyanarayanan on February 21, 2026 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.  Banaras Hindu University conferred KAUSTUBH KALAA RATNA AWARD on Parwati Dutta on February 4, 2026 for her outstanding contribution in the field of Indian arts, especially traditional dance forms. Parwati Dutta is known for research-oriented dance compositions and reconstruction of ancient dance traditions through deep research on Shastras.  The following artistes have been selected for TAGORE NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP and SCHOLARSHIP FOR CULTURAL RESEARCH given by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for 2025-2026. The duration of the Fellowship/Scholarship will be 2 years. FELLOWSHIPS TAPATI CHOWDHURIE (A Research on the contribution of Thankamani Amma, the first student of Mohiniyattam in Kerala Kalamandalam) DR. P. RAMA DEVI (Performance Narratives: The Transition from Vesakathas to Kalapam and Yakshagana alongside classical theatre forms) BHARAT SHARMA (Developing a School of Choreography) SCHOLARSHIPS VV RAMANI (Abhinaya re-imagined) LAXMINARAYAN JENA (Deconstructing Ekaharya Lasyanga: A critical analysis of its components in Kathak as per Shastra, Sampradaya and Shaili) KEERTHY UNNIKRISHNAN (Study of rare temple dance compositions found in Palm Leaf Manuscript preserved at TMSSM Library (1650 -1787))  Vidhya Subramanian receives the NATYA VIDHA NIDHI (Lifetime Achievement Award) from IFAASD, San Diego on March 28, 2026.  The Padma awards have been announced on Jan 25, 2026. PADMA BHUSHAN: Dr. Shatavadhani R Ganesh (Karnataka) PADMA SHRI: Deepika Reddy (Telangana), Kalamandalam Vimala Menon (Kerala) Prize winners of the Madras Music Academy's 19th Dance Festival 2026. - Bharatanatyam solo (seniors): Best dancer: VAIBHAV AREKAR Outstanding dancer: SHIJITH NAMBIAR & PARVATHY MENON - Sub seniors (first slot) Best dancer: BHAVAJAN KUMAR Outstanding dancer: SHWETA PRACHANDE - Sub seniors (second slot) Best dancer: PARSHWANATH UPADHYE Outstanding dancer: HARINIE JEEVITHA - Juniors Best dancer: PV ADITHYA Outstanding dancer: PRITAM DAS The book ‘Theyyam: Indian Folk Ritual Theatre’ by KK Gopalakrishnan is the winner of THE BEST PRINTED BOOK OF THE YEAR (ILLUSTRATED) 2025.  Ushta-Te Foundation presented BIJOY ANAND SHIVRAM with the MEHER R CONTRACTOR AWARD FOR PERFORMING ARTS on January 18, 2026 at Nowrojee Vakil Hall, Ahmedabad. Says Shivram, “It’s such an honour to be nominated as in the late 80’s, I had the opportunity to work with Meherben…. with shadow puppets in one of my early productions. She was recognised all over the world in the field of Puppetry and was also the President of the World Puppetry Organization.”  Aditi Mangaldas and Drishtikon Dance Foundation announce the winners of DR SUNIL KOTHARI AWARD FOR EMERGING ARTISTS 2025. First: NILAVA SEN (Uday Shankar Style and Bharatanatyam) // The Traffic Second: NAVYASHREE K.N. (Bharatanatyam) // Antarvirodha Second: P.V. ADITHYA (Bharatanatyam) // Who Am I Nilava Sen gets the award citation along with the cash prize of Rs. 75,000. Both Navyashree K.N and P.V Adithya stood a joint second and will share the second prize and receive Rs. 12,500 each. The jury members give a special mention to the works submitted by: SUSANTA GHOSH (Kathak) // Dwandha SUMEET SAGOLSEM (Contemporary) // Dual Currents  Nalanda’s BHARATA MUNI SAMMAN for 2025 was presented to Chitra Visweswaran (dance), Prashant Damle (theatre) and Ravindra Sathe (music) on January 11, 2026 at Nalanda’s Kanaka Sabha, Mumbai.  Nalanda’s KANAKA NARTANA PURASKAR 2025 was presented to Dr. Shailesh Srivastava (folk singer), Dr. Malati Agneswaran (BN), Vijayshree Chaudhary (Kathak) and Dr.Veena Londhe (Sanskrit scholar), Alka Gujar (sitarist), Dr. Ganesh Chandranshive (folk artiste), Jigar Soni and Suhrad Soni (folk dancers) and Narayan Mani (Saraswati veena) on January 11, 2026 at Nalanda’s Kanaka Sabha, Mumbai.  The ABHAI committee honoured gurus Jaya Chandrasekhar, Ambika Buch, Revathy Muthuswamy, Jayashree Narayanan and Samyuktha Varadarajan with the title NATYA KALA SADHAKA on January 4, 2026 at Chennai.  Urmila Sathyanarayanan is the convenor of the Natya Kala Conference in 2026 and 2027.  This year's KERALA KALAMANDALAM KATHAKALI MUSIC AWARD will be awarded to KALAMANDALAM MOHANAKRISHNAN, a distinguished musician and torchbearer of the Kathakali music tradition. Over the years, Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan has performed alongside some of the greatest Kathakali maestros, earning recognition as one of the rare artistes who has upheld and enriched the musical tradition of Kathakali on national and international stages.  Bharatanatyam dancer URMILA SATYANARAYANA received the NRITYA KALANIDHI award from Madras Music Academy for 2025 on January 3, 2026 in Chennai. MADAMBI SUBRAMANIA NAMBOODIRI received the TTK AWARD for Kathakali music.  Bharatanatyam Guru Padmini Ravi to receive the SHANTALA NATYA PRASHASTI by the Govt of Karnataka.  Sonal Mansingh to receive SRIMANTA SANKARDEVA AWARD, the highest honor given by govt of Assam once in 3 years.  The KALIDAS SAMMAN of Govt of Madhya Pradesh goes to Dr. Sandhya Purecha and Pandit Uday Bhawalkar. The other awardees include: Sudha Raghuraman (RASHTRIYA KUMAR GANDHARVA SAMMAN), Kalpana Zokarkar and Pt Akhilesh Gundecha (SHIKHAR SAMMAN). Highlights ; Obituaries |
