HP CM Office Hails Rajgarh Folk Artist Dr. Jogendra Habbi's Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Synopsis
The Chief Minister's Office of Himachal Pradesh congratulated Dr. Jogendra Habbi, a celebrated folk artist from Rajgarh in Sirmaur district, on being conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by President Smt. Draupadi Murmu — a national honour recognising his contributions to India's performing arts heritage.
Key Takeaways
Jogendra Habbi , a renowned folk artist from Rajgarh, Sirmaur district , has been conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award .
The award was presented by President Smt.
Draupadi Murmu , India's highest constitutional authority.
The Chief Minister's Office of Himachal Pradesh extended official congratulations on August 13, 2026 .
The Sangeet Natak Akademi is India's national academy for performing arts, conferring annual awards across music, dance, and theatre including regional folk forms.
Sirmaur district has a long tradition of folk performing arts, and this recognition continues Himachal Pradesh's history of national-level cultural honours.
A folk artist from the hills of Sirmaur has earned India's highest honour in performing arts — and Himachal Pradesh is celebrating. The Chief Minister's Office of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, August 13, 2026, extended warm congratulations to Dr. Jogendra Habbi, a renowned folk artist from Rajgarh in Sirmaur district, on being conferred the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by President Smt. Draupadi Murmu.
The CMO's post read: 'Sirmaur ke Rajgarh nivaasi evam suprasiddh lok kalakar Dr. Jogendra Habbi ji ko... Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar se sammanit kiye jaane par haardik badhai evam shubhkaamnaayein' — ('Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Jogendra Habbi, renowned folk artist and resident of Rajgarh, Sirmaur, on being honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the Hon'ble President Smt. Draupadi Murmu.')
Who Is Dr. Jogendra Habbi?
Dr. Jogendra Habbi hails from Rajgarh, a town nestled in the Sirmaur district of southern Himachal Pradesh — a region long known for its living traditions of folk music, dance, and oral performance. His recognition at the national level places him among an elite group of artists whose work the Indian state has formally acknowledged as a contribution to the country's intangible cultural heritage.
What the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Means
The Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's national academy for the performing arts, confers its annual awards to honour exceptional contributions across music, dance, and theatre — including regional and folk forms that rarely find a platform beyond their home states. The awards are presented by the President of India, giving them the weight of the republic's highest constitutional office. For folk artists especially, this recognition is transformative: it signals that a tradition rooted in a specific geography has earned a place in the national cultural canon.
Himachal Pradesh's folk traditions — spanning instruments, ballads, and ritual performance forms unique to its mountain communities — have periodically broken through to this level of national recognition. Dr. Habbi's award continues that thread.
For Sirmaur's artistic community, this is more than one man's honour. It is a reminder that the hills still sing — and that the country is listening.
Point of View
Such recognitions carry political and cultural weight — they validate the state's investment in its intangible heritage and give the ruling dispensation a soft-power moment to amplify. The CMO's swift public congratulation signals how seriously state governments now treat cultural diplomacy as a tool of identity politics. The real question is whether the award translates into sustained institutional support for Sirmaur's folk ecosystem, or remains a moment of ceremonial visibility.
NationPress
13 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr. Jogendra Habbi?
Dr. Jogendra Habbi is a renowned folk artist from Rajgarh in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh, who has been conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by President Smt. Draupadi Murmu.
What is the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award?
The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is India's highest national honour in the performing arts, conferred annually by the President of India to recognise outstanding contributions to music, dance, theatre, and folk art forms.
Who presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award to Dr. Jogendra Habbi?
The award was presented by President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu.
Which district in Himachal Pradesh is Dr. Jogendra Habbi from?
Dr. Jogendra Habbi is from Rajgarh, located in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
What did the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister's Office say about the award?
The Chief Minister's Office of Himachal Pradesh extended heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Jogendra Habbi on receiving the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
