Padma Awards 2024: The government on Thursday announced the winners of Padma Awards 2024. These awards are given in the fields of arts, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil services, etc. The Padma Awards are conferred in three categories including Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Let's take a look at some key figures from the field of entertainment, art and culture who have been honoured by the government.
Padma Vibhushan 2024 winners
Vyjayantimala Bali - Tamil Nadu
Konidela Chiranjeevi - Andhra Pradesh
Padma Subrahmanyam - Tamil Nadu
Padma Bhushan 2024 winners
Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo alias Rajdutt - Maharashtra
Mithun Chakraborty - West Bengal
Usha Uthup - West Bengal
Vijaykanth - Tamil Nadu
Pyarelal Sharma - Maharashtra
Folk artists honoured with Padma Shri
Ratan Kahar
Famous Bhadu folk singer Ratan Kahar of Birbhum has dedicated more than 60 years to folk music. He is known for his captivating roles in Jatra folk theatre. He specializes in Bhadu festival songs and genres like Tusu, Jhumur, and Alqaab. His composition 'Boro Loker Biti Lo' is popular. Despite financial constraints and coming from a laborer family, he started singing at the age of 16 and left an indelible mark.
Om Prakash Sharma
Omprakash Sharma promoted 'Maach', the 200-year-old traditional dance drama of the Malwa region for more than seven decades. He wrote scripts for Mach theater productions and reworked Sanskrit plays in the Mach style. He trained students at NSD Delhi and Bharat Bhawan Bhopal while serving as a teacher. Coming from a humble background, Omprakash learned the art from his father under Ustad Kaluram Mach Akhara
Narayanan E P
Narayanan E P has dedicated six decades to promoting the traditional art of Theyyam. Experienced Theyyam folk dancer from Kannur - She has mastered the art of moving from dance to the entire Theyyam ecosystem including costume designing and face painting techniques. At the age of five, he began his six-decade-long career. He performed the art in 300 performances in 20 types of Theyyam. Theyyam is an ancient folk ritual combining theatre, music, mime, and dance, usually performed in front of the village temple with musical instruments like chenda, flathalam, and kurumkujal. He started as a driver, now working dedicatedly for the preservation of this art.
Bhagwat Padhan
Bhagwat Padhan is the exponent of the Sabda Nritya folk dance of Bargarh. He dedicated more than five decades of his life to preserving and popularizing the art form considered to be the dance of Mahadev. His lifelong efforts have contributed significantly to the preservation of this dance form, including training more than 600 dancers. Worked as a lower primary school teacher during the 1960s. During this time he faced financial challenges but never gave up his dedication to his art.
Badarappan M
Badarappan M is an exponent of Valli Oyil Kummi folk dance from Coimbatore. It is a hybrid form of song and dance performance, depicting the stories of the gods 'Murugan' and 'Valli'. Despite being a predominantly male-dominated art, Badarappan believed in women empowerment and thus broke this tradition and trained women artists.
Gaddam Sammayya
Gaddam Sammayya has highlighted social issues through Chindu Yakshaganam performances for over five decades. He has done more than 19,000 shows so far. Chindu Yaksha Arthula Sangham and Gaddam Sammaiya Youth Art Skethram were established to promote this art. Coming from a humble background, Sammayya started work as an agricultural laborer and learned the art from his parents.
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