As part of the 27th Margazhi Mahotsav, Bharat Kalachar on Sunday honoured eminent personalities for their contribution to fine arts.
The 45-day festival was inaugurated by Doha Bank Group chief executive officer R. Seetharaman. Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi presided over the inaugural function and released the annual souvenir. It was received by industrialist Nalli Kuppuswamy.
Carnatic musician Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan was conferred the title of Gnana Kala Bharathi; violinist A. Kanyakumari, veena player Rajesh Vaidhya and dancer/choreographer Anita Ratnam received the titles of Viswa Kala Bharathi; film director S.P. Muthuraman was presented the Natya Kaladhar title.
Percussionist Guruvayur Dorai and carnatic music singer Charumathi Ramachandran were conferred the title of Acharya Kala Bharathi; Radha Bhaskar and Sunil Kothari received the title of Kala Seva Bharathi; and drama artist K.S.N. Sundar bagged the title Nadaga Kala Bharathi.
Special commendation awards were presented to B.K. Shafeekudeen. Natya Sangeetha Kala Bharathi titles were conferred on Radha Badri (vocal) and Veda Krishnaram (Mridangam).
For 2013, ten junior artistes were presented with Yuva Kala Bharathi awards. They were Sandeep Narayan (vocal), Chaitrra Sairam (vocal), G. Abilash (vocal), R. Raghul (violin), M.S. Venkatasubramanian (Mridangam), S. Sunil Kumar (Kanjira), Pallavi Sriram, Bhavajan Kumar, T.M. Sridevi and T.N. Saranya (in bharathanatyam.
Bharat Kalachar Chairperson Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy said that most of junior artists, who had bagged Yuva Kala Bharathi awards some 15 to 20 years ago, were now featured in the top list and recognised worldwide.
