(Image source from: presidentofindia.nic.in)

President Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 to Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, Chhayanaut (a cultural organisation of Bangladesh) and Ram Vanji Sutar respectively, at a function in New Delhi on February 18.

Speaking on the function, the President said this Award is a celebration of Indian traditions of culture and of our civilisational wealth – whether in literature or music, art or drama, sculpture or handicrafts, design or digital art. Each region in our country has a distinct cultural identity. Yet, in its essence, culture does not divide – it unites and harmonises all of India and all of humanity.

Pointing to the contributions of the award winners, the President said that Rajkumar Singhajit Singh is one of our greatest exponents of Manipuri dance. He has bridged this age-old art form of Manipur with not only modern sensibilities but with other parts of the country. He was given the award for the year 2014.

Chhayanaut is an organisation that has promoted and preserved the works and philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore in Bangladesh was given the award for 2015

And Ram Vanji Sutar is a sculptor and scholar who represents an art tradition that goes back thousands of years to our ancient past. Recently he was news for the Statue of Unity and he was given the award for 2016.

Speaking on the event, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that culture is the lifeblood of any nation as it gives identity to it. He said, “India's rich cultural heritage was preserved in the face of colonisation and foreign invasion.” This was possible due to the contribution of people like Gurudev Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, he added.

PM said that India's multi-dimensional heritage was well reflected in the works of Gurudev. Rabindra Sangeet has all the colours of our country and it is not bound by a language. He called Tagore's teachings timeless and said that the world stands to learn a great deal from his works. “He recognised the folk arts and traditional dances as indicative of Indian culture," PM said.

Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony was instituted by the Government from 2012 during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. It is awarded annually and carries an amount of One Crore rupees, a citation in a Scroll, a Plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft or handloom item.

-Sai Kumar