About Sangeet Natak Akademi:
- It is India’s national academy for music, dance, and drama.
- It is the first national academy of the arts set up by the Republic of India.
- History:
- It was set up in 1952 and became functional the following year, with the appointment of its first chairman, Dr. P. V. Rajamannar.
- Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, inaugurated it on 28 January 1953.
- Currently, it is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Functions:
- The academy functions as the apex body of the performing arts in the country to preserve and promote the vast cultural heritage of India expressed in music, dance, and drama.
- It also works with governments and art academies in states and territories of the country.
- In addition, the Akademi:
- Subsidizes the work of institutions engaged in teaching, performing, or promoting music, dance, or theatre.
- Gives grants to aid research, documentation, and publishing in the performing arts.
- Organises and subsidises seminars and conferences of subject specialists.
- Documents and records the performing arts for its audio-visual archive.
- Renders advice and assistance to the government of India in the task of formulating and implementing policies and programmes in the field.
- Carries a part of the responsibilities of the state for fostering cultural contacts between regions in the country, as well as between India and the world.
- Organises its annual festival of music, dance, and theatre in NCT Delhi.
- 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 in 2006 instituted annual awards to young artists – the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.
- The Akademi’s archive, comprising audio and video tapes, photographs, and films, is one of the largest in the country and is extensively drawn upon for research in the performing arts.
- Management:
- The management of the Akademi vests in its General Council.
- The Chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years.
