Nishagandhi Puraskaram or Nishagandhi award (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

: നിശാഗന്ധി പുരസ്കാരം) is an annual

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

instituted by the Tourism Department of Kerala in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to honour personalities in the fields of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and dance . The award carries a cash prize of 1,50,000

Indian Rupees The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

, a citation, and a statuette. It is presented annually on behalf of the ''Nishagandhi Dance and Music Festival'', a cultural programme organized by the Tourism Department of Kerala every year. The seven-day long Nishagandhi festival is held in January at the Nishagandhi amphitheater near the

Kanakakkunnu Palace Kanakakkunnu Palace is situated in Thiruvananthapuram near the Napier museum, India. It is India's first digital garden, created by Akhilesh S. V. Nair and A. Gangaprasad, University of Kerala, Department of Botany. Today the palace and i ...

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

, the capital city of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The award was established in 2013 to popularise the Festival in the national and international level.

History

Nishagandhi Puraskaram was first awarded to the classical dancer

Mrinalini Sarabhai Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai (11 May 1918 – 21 January 2016) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, ...

in 2013. Hindustani musician Lalith J. Rao won the award in the next year. Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, an exponent in

Bharata Natyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, won the award in 2015. Musician

Ilayaraja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

won the award in 2016 for his contribution to the Indian film music industry. The Governor of Kerala

P. Sathasivam Palanisamy Sathasivam (born 27 April 1949) is an Indian judge who served as the 40th Chief Justice of India, holding the office from 2013 to 2014. On retirement from his judicial career, Sathasivam was appointed the 21st List of governors of K ...

presented the Nishagandhi Puraskaram to Bharati Shivaji, an exponent in

Mohiniyattom Mohiniyattam, ( ml, മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is an Indian classical dance form that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name fro ...

, in 2017. Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan are popularly known as Dhananjayans got Nishagandhi Puraskaram in 2018.

Laureates

References

External links

Kerala Tourism Department
{{Kerala topics Kerala awards Awards established in 2013 Arts of Kerala Indian art awards 2013 establishments in Kerala