S Mahadevan was awarded with the ‘Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship in Music’ by Hon.Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sri ESL Narasimhan during the week-long celebrations for birth centenary of carnatic singer Subbulakshmi from Sep 12 2016

The Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha (SSFASS), Mumbai and Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi will jointly kickstart the birth centenary celebrations of legendary carnatic singer M S Subbulakshmi from September 12.

The week-long celebrations at the Shanmukhananda Hall will be inaugurated by Central Sangeet Natak Akademy Chairman Shekar Sen, SSFASS president V Shankar said yesterday.

”We are the first cultural institution to celebrate the centenary of the legend on such a grand scale. Subbulakshmi was a regular visitor here during her lifetime,” Mr Shankar told mediapersons.

To mark the momentous occasion, stalwart artistes like Kishori Amonkar, Girija Devi, Vyjayantimala Bali, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Teejanbai, Aruna Sairam and Vishaka Hari will be conferred with the prestigious ‘M S Subbulakshmi Centenary Award’, he added. Each award comprises a Rs 1,00,000 cash prize, a bronze lamp, a citation and trophy.

Grammy awardee and percussionist Vikku Vinayakaram will receive the ‘MS Sangeetha Pracharya Award’ on the occasion.

As part of the celebrations, a special musical program, ‘Future First’ by three young artistes will be held with performances by (Miss) A Soorya Gayathri, 11, G Abilash, 17, from Chennai and Devulapallai Lakshmi Pachotan, 17, from Andhra Pradesh.

A ‘Viswa Shanti Havan’ will be performed on September 16 with chanting of the four Vedas by 100 vedic scholars and students.

Another notable function would be a dance ballet performed by 100 dancers of Vani Ganapathi’s Sri Raja Rajeswari Bharat Natya Kala Mandir, led by Guru Kalyana Sundaram Pillai with a 10 language dance presentation of songs sung and popularised by Subbulakshmi.

On September 17, A Kanyakumari will lead a concert performance of a 100-member violin and other instruments group to pay tributes to Subbulakshmi.

A Rs 3 postage stamp on Subbulakshmi under the ‘Makers of India Definitive Series’ will be unveiled next week as part of the centenary.

In one function, 50 young and promising artistes from across India will be awarded the ‘Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr M S Subbulakshmi Fellowship in Music’, each for three years with an annual grant of Rs 1,00,000.