Guwahati, Oct 23 (PTI) The Assam government has instituted a new award, the ‘Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika National Award’, and it will be presented to eminent singer Usha Mangeshkar, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said here on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the award at the concluding ceremony of Hazarika’s year-long birth centenary celebrations at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on November 29, Sarma said at a press conference.
The award will be given every three years and comprises Rs 10 lakh in cash and a citation.
Sarma said around 5,000-7,000 people from across the country are expected to participate in the concluding event.
It will showcase Bhupen Hazarika’s remarkable artistic legacy and multifaceted genius, whose music, poetry and humanist philosophy have transcended geographical and cultural boundaries, he said.
Renowned singers Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal and artistes from Assam will also pay a musical tribute to the maestro, celebrating his enduring contribution to India’s cultural heritage, the CM said.
Sarma said an exhibition will also be organised on the occasion to introduce Hazarika’s timeless creations to a wider international audience.
He said the culmination of the year-long celebrations must reflect the stature of a cultural icon whose creative genius enriched Assam and the nation alike.
The CM pointed out the importance of taking Hazarika’s message of humanity, harmony and universal brotherhood to future generations, while strengthening global recognition of his contributions to music, literature and culture.
The concluding event is envisioned as a landmark occasion celebrating not only the extraordinary contributions of the ‘Bard of the Brahmaputra’, as the singer was popularly called, to India’s cultural landscape but also his enduring legacy as a voice that transcended borders and united people through the universal language of music and humanity, the chief minister added.
The year-long birth centenary celebrations began last year with Modi attending a special tribute meeting for the singer.
The prime minister had also released a commemorative coin of Rs 100 brought out by the Reserve Bank of India to honour the singer, and also a biography of the maestro, titled ‘Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika’, on the occasion.
Hazarika was born on September 8, 1926, at Sadiya in Tinsukia district of Assam. He died on November 5, 2011, in Mumbai. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019. PTI DG DG ACD
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