Madhya Pradesh

• 18 Nov 2021

National Tulsi and Goddess Ahilya Samman declared

Why in News

On November 17, 2021, the Madhya Pradesh Culture Department declared the National Tulsi Samman for the years 2017 to 2020 and the National Goddess Ahilya Samman for 2019 and 2020. The artists to be honored will be adorned by Tourism, Culture and Spiritual Minister Usha Thakur at the inauguration of Nimar Utsav starting from November 19 in Maheshwar.

Key Points

• Among the artists who were honored with the National Tulsi Samman, the year 2017 was awarded to the eminent painter Kailash Chand Sharma of Jaipur, the year 2018 was awarded to Vikram Yadav, the famous flute player of Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, the year 2019 was awarded to the famous Kabir singer of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. The award for the year 2020 will be given to Dr. Bharti brothers and eminent tribal artist Tilakram Pendram.
• Among the artists to be honored with the National Goddess Ahilya Samman, this prestigious honor of the year 2019 will be given to Shanti Bai Maravi, a tribal artist of Mandla and the honor of the year 2020 will be given to the famous folk singer Malini Awasthi of Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Bundelkhandi style of Lucknow.
• Artists who are honored with the National Tulsi and Devi Ahilya Samman are given an honorarium of 2 lakhs, an honor plaque and a shawl-shriphal.
• It is noteworthy that the annual National Tulsi Samman was established in the year 1983 by the Culture Department of Madhya Pradesh to honor excellence and best achievement in tribal, folk and traditional arts, which is awarded only to male artists. Rashtriya Tulsi Samman is given twice in three years for performing arts and once for Rupankar arts.
• Similarly, to honor women artists in the field of tribal, folk and traditional arts, the National Goddess Ahilya Samman was established by the department in 1996.