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 Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards - Priya Jain e-mail: punarjjaniculturalcentre@gmail.com Photos courtesy: Sangeet Natak Akademi photo album September 21, 2023 Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India bestowed 'Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards' under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) commemorating 75 years of India's Independence to 88 artistes. Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar (Vice-President of India) conferred the one time Amrit Awards on September 16, 2023 to the artistes from different States and Union Territories in the presence of Arjun Ram Meghwal (Minister of State for Culture), Meenakshi Lekhi (Minister of State for Culture) and Dr Sandhya Purecha (Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi). As the event began, Arjun Ram Meghwal, expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi that on 12th March 2021 he started the Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav for 75 weeks and it came to an end on 15 August 2023. Initially after that our Prime Minister announced 25 years of "Amrit kaal" in which we will lead India towards a developed country. This "Amrit kaal" began with a successful event of 'Chandrayaan 3' on 23rd August 2023, followed with the second achievement on 9th September 2023 by hosting 'G20 in India' being the most proud moment for Indians and on 16th September 2023, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards is no less an achievement, celebrating and awarding artistes who are more than 75 years of age. He thanked the entire team of SNA and closed his speech by quoting PM Narendra Modi's words, "Yahi samay hai, sahi samay hai aur Bharat ka anmol samay hai". Meenakshi Lekhi added grace to the celebration by greeting and showing her appreciation towards all the inspiring artistes present there by saying, "This young generation is highly thankful towards our elder generation who has not only seen the rising sun of victory and independence of India but also gone through the hard times when India was under slavery. So today, we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by taking inspiration from your contribution and never dying spirit. We are feeling overwhelmed and proud of you all and want to thank you all with utmost gratitude and greetings."    The ceremony continued by greeting all the artistes and listening to inspiring words by the Vice-President, who showed his heartfelt gratitude towards the Sangeet Natak Akademi's team and the dextrous as well as elderly artistes for their blessings. He extended his thankfulness by quoting that, "Today I am going with high motivation and also responsibility for the blessings by such marvellous and elderly artistes. I am going fully motivated and fully charged". At the end of his speech he saluted all the great artistes and expressed that it is our responsibility as well as our religion to honour them as they have kept their authentic art alive for years. Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards continued its celebration for five days (from 16th to 20th September 2023) by presenting a few awardees in their authentic art forms at Meghdoot Complex, Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi.  Priya Jain is an art-based writer, who infuses her passion for storytelling into every piece she creates. Alongside her literary pursuits, she is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Psychology. She is also a theatre practitioner. |
