Sangeet Natak Akademi

About Sangeet Natak Akademi:

• It is India’s national academy of music, dance and drama.
• It was created by a resolution of the Ministry of Education, with P.V. Rajamannar as its first Chairman.
• It was set up in 1953 for the preservation and promotion of the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in forms of music, dance and drama.
• Presently, it is an Autonomous Body of the Ministry of Culture.
• The Chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years.
• It is fully funded by the Government for the implementation of its schemes and programmes.
• Aims and objectives:
  • To coordinate the activities of regional or State Academies of dance, drama and music;
  • To promote research in the fields of Indian dance, drama and music and for this purpose, to establish a library and museum, etc.;
  • To co-operate with such similar academies as there may be and other institutions and associations for the furtherance of its objectives and for the enrichment of Indian culture as a whole;
  • To encourage the exchange of ideas and enrichment of techniques between the different regions in regard to the arts of dance, drama and music;
  • To encourage, where necessary, the establishment of theatre centres, on the basis of regional languages, and cooperation among different theatre centres;
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are the highest national recognition conferred on practising artists.
• The Akademi also confers Fellowships on eminent artists and scholars of music, dance and drama; and has in 2006 instituted annual awards to young artists – the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.