Mridangam maestro Mullapudi Sreerama Murthy was honoured with Andhra Music Academy’s Sangeeta Vidya Nidhi award and Kuchipudi exponents — Raja Reddy and Radha Reddy were given away Natya Vidya Nidhi award at the inaugural of the five-day 13{+t}{+h}annual Music and Dance Festival of the academy here on Wednesday.
Carnatic exponent and guru Nedunuri Krishnamurthy felicitated the award-winners.
“Fine arts such as music and dance pave way for self-realisation, elevating the mind from mundane to the sublime plane. These are not only reflective of our legacy but also form basis for cultural richness,” he said.
“While music makes us experience transcendental bliss, literature makes us wiser in our appreciation of life,” he observed. He fondly recalled his long association with the awardees and commended their yeoman service to the cause of dance and music. President of the academy and former DGP R. Prabhakara Rao underscored the objectives of the academy and its achievements over a decade. K. Basavaraju, R. Raghavendra Rao, and G. Prabhakar of the academy, noted writer Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, chief patron of Visakha Music Academy S. Vijayakumar, A. Prasanna Kumar, and Perala Balamurali Krishna participated.
Later, a scintillating violin concert of A. Kanyakumari enthralled the audience.