22 October, Srinagar: One of this year’s winners of the renowned SaMaPa awards (Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts) is Kashmiri poet and translator Shahnaz Rasheed.
Shahnaz Rasheed (Jammu and Kashmir) has been awarded the SaMaPa Nund Rishi Samman 2023 for his outstanding work as a poet and translator in the realm of Kashmiri literature, according to a statement from the SaMaPa.
The prize is named after Sheikh-Ul-Alam, a revered Kashmiri saint and spiritual figure who made a significant contribution to Kashmiriyat.
“The award is given to personalities with enormous contributions and path-breaking works in folk and regional culture in fields like compositions, singing, theatre, films, documentaries, sculpture, and other performing arts or light music,” a press release said.
Unveiling of the SaMaPa Awards 2023
The winners of this year’s coveted SaMaPa awards, the only national-level accolades relevant to J&K, have been revealed by SaMaPa® (Sopori Institution of Music and Performing Arts), a major cultural organisation and music institution in India.
The award will be given out during the 19th Annual SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan, the top classical music festival of Delhi and one of the most prestigious festivals of the nation, on November 3, 4, and 5, 2023, at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, according to Pt. Abhay Rustum Sopori, the international award-winning Santoor maestro and composer and General Secretary of SaMaPa.
Creating a distinctive, unbiased, and empowering national-level platform for the presentation, propagation, and teaching of traditional music and performing arts for the artists and young talents was a core vision of SaMaPa’s Founding Chairman, the great music legend late Pandit Bhajan Sopori, the Saint of Santoor and King of Strings, the spokeswoman said.
The legendary Pakhawaj maestro Pandit Dalchand Sharma (Delhi) is awarded the SaMaPa Vitasta Samman 2023 in recognition of his lifetime contribution to Hindustani classical music (Pakhawaj).
The honour is given to illustrious and renowned Indian musicians who have made major contributions to the dissemination and preservation of our nation’s cultural heritage. The ancient river Vitasta (Jhelum), which stands for love, peace, art, culture, and the Shaivite-Sufi Saint tradition of Kashmir and symbolises the cultural ethos and rich legacy of J&K, inspired the naming of the Samman.
Dr. Rosalin Patasani Mishra of the Parichay Foundation in Odisha has been awarded the SaMaPa Kala Vardhan Samman 2023 in recognition of her enormous and exceptional contributions to the world of art and culture. Eminent individuals, cultural benefactors, visionaries, and organisations that go above and beyond the call of duty and make a major contribution to the growth, development, promotion, and dissemination of art and culture are given the award.
Avtar Krishen Mota (Delhi) has received the SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman 2023 in recognition of his enormous contributions to Kashmiri art and culture as a writer and columnist, according to a release.
The honour bears the name of Acharya Abhinavgupt, a Kashmiri scholar and aesthetician who lived in the tenth century and is most known for his commentary on Bharatmuni’s Natyashastra. In recognition of their amazing work in writing music and art reviews, books, and journals, as well as researchers who have carried out excellent study in the fields of art, culture, and languages, the prize is given to music critics, musicologists, scholars, and journalists.
Dr. Prabbakar Kashyap (Chandigarh) and Dr. Diwakar Kashyap (Khairagarh) are receiving the SaMaPa Sangeet Tejasvi Samman 2023 in recognition of their accomplishments and contributions to Hindustani Classical Music (Vocal).
The award was established to recognise those people who, by their amazing skill, are making important contributions to the area of music on a national and international level and who are the future giants of Indian music.
Viraj Joshi (Pune), the grandson of Bharat Rama PL Bhimsen Joshi, is being awarded the SaMaPa Yuva Ratan Samman 2023 in honour of his exceptional skill and accomplishments in Hindustani classical music (vocal).
The prize was established to honour, support, and promote the nation’s new generation of artists who are excelling in their particular disciplines.
Sadhna Shrivastav will receive the SaMaPa Award of Excellence 2023 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the arts and cultures as a television, stage, and documentary film producer.
According to the statement, the award was created to recognise individuals who have excelled in the fields of audio and video production, documentary and feature film direction, sound engineering, script writing, cultural photography, programme presentation and compering, as well as instrument making.
