Context:
Recently, the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2022 and 2023 in a special ceremony at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
About Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar
- The Sangeet Natak Akademi established the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (UBKUP) in 2006 to honor young artists under 40 years of age, in memory of Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan.
- The award includes a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a plaque, and an angavastram.
- The Yuva Puraskar may be given in the following five Fields of activity:
- Music
- Dance
- Theatre
- Other Traditional / Folk/ Tribal/ Dance/ Music/ Theatre and Puppetry
- Contribution / Scholarship in Performing Arts
Ustad Bismillah Khan
- He was India’s one of the finest classical musicians (Shehnai).
- He received all three Padma awards, such as Padma Shri in the year 1961, Padma Bhushan in the year 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in the year 1980.
- He was third classical musician who received the Bharat Ratna after M S Subbalakshmi and Ravi Shankar.
- In 1992, a large auditorium in Tehran, Iran, was named “Talar Mousiqui Ustad Bismillah Khan” in honor of Bismillah Khan.
- He played the shehnai at India’s first Republic Day celebration in 1950 and was the first Indian to perform at the Lincoln Center in the United States.