Kala Ratna awards for 7 eminent persons

Chief Minister Y.S. Rjasekhara Reddy to present the awards on Ugadi day

HYDERABAD: Kala Ratna awards will be presented to seven eminent persons chosen from different fields by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy marking `Sarwajit' Ugadi, Telugu New Year's Day at a function in Ravindra Bharati here on Monday.

The awardees are బలంథ్రపు రజనికాంత రావు (Balanthrapu Rajanikantha Rao) (music), రావూరి భరద్వాజ (Ravuri Bharadwaja) and ఎం.ఎస్.రెడ్డి (M.S. Reddy) (literature), దీపికా రెడ్డి (Deepika Reddy) (Kuchipudi dance), చంద్ర (Chandra) (painting), గణపతి స్థాపతి (Ganapathi Sthapathi) (sculpture), and చిందు నీలమ్మ (Chindu Neelamma) (folk arts).

Chairman of the State Cultural Council Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam said here on Saturday that the traditional పంచాంగ శ్రావణం (panchanga sravanam) would be performed by C. V. B. Subrahmanyam, Professor and Dean of Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, this year. Release of వ్యవసాయ పంచాంగం (vyavasaya panchangam), felicitation to Vedic scholars and presentation of Ugadi purasakarams would follow.

Kala Ratna awards, which were described as State-level Padma awards by the Chief Minister last year, would carry a swan replica, a citation, a shawl and Rs. 30,000 in cash. A committee comprising Mr. Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, cultural affairs director R. V. Prasada Raju (Rallabandi Kavitha Prasad) and senior journalist Pothuri Venkateswara Rao had finalised the award winners.

Courtesy: The Hindu