In the dignified presence of President Draupadi Murmu, India's performing arts community gathered on 13 August 2026 for one of the country's most storied cultural honours — the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and Awards Ceremony. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat attended the event and extended warm congratulations to the 7 Fellows and 108 distinguished artists recognised for the years 2024 and 2025.

Seven Fellowships, 108 awards — a combined tribute to two years of artistry

Posting in Hindi after the ceremony, Minister Shekhawat described the occasion as a 'suavasara' — a rare and auspicious opportunity — to be part of the felicitation. 'Heartfelt congratulations to the 7 Fellows and 108 distinguished artists honoured for 2024 and 2025,' he wrote, adding: 'We salute their years of sadhana (dedicated practice), devotion, and contribution to India's artistic traditions.'

The combined ceremony covering two award cycles in a single sitting is notable. Together, the two cohorts represent one of the larger single-event recognitions the Sangeet Natak Akademi has hosted in recent memory — 115 artists honoured at once, spanning classical, folk, and tribal performing arts.

India's oldest performing-arts institution and what the Fellowship means

Founded in 1952, the Sangeet Natak Akademi is India's apex national body for music, dance, and drama, functioning under the Ministry of Culture. Its Fellowship — formally the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna — is the institution's highest honour, reserved for artists of extraordinary, lifelong distinction. The annual awards recognise excellence across a broader range of practitioners and genres, from Hindustani and Carnatic classical traditions to regional folk and tribal performance forms.

The Akademi has been conferring these recognitions since the 1950s, making it one of the oldest continuous state-supported arts-honour frameworks in independent India. President Draupadi Murmu — the first woman from a tribal community to hold the office of President — presiding over a ceremony that explicitly includes tribal performing arts carries its own quiet resonance.

Culture Ministry's institutional calendar and what follows

The ceremony fits within a broader institutional rhythm: the Ministry of Culture runs a network of autonomous academies — including the Sahitya Akademi (literature) and Lalit Kala Akademi (visual arts) — each holding periodic award cycles to document and honour India's intangible cultural heritage. Parallel ceremonies by sister academies are expected in the months ahead.

For Minister Shekhawat, the event is also a signal of the Culture portfolio's visibility: placing the President at the centre of an arts-honours ceremony elevates the occasion well beyond routine bureaucratic recognition and anchors it firmly in the national calendar.

One hundred and fifteen artists, decades of craft, and a single evening in the President's presence. That is the kind of institutional moment the Akademi was built — seventy-three years ago — to create.