Pune: Renowned singer Mahesh Kale will be honored with the prestigious Bal Gandharva Gungaurav Award by the Bal Gandharva Sangeet Rasik Mandal this year. The award includes a cash prize of ₹1,11,111 and a commemorative plaque.
This year's Kohinoor Gandharva Award will be presented to Sukrut Tamhankar, a software engineer from Bangalore and a singer-actor on the musical stage. He will receive a cash prize of ₹51,000 and a plaque.
The award ceremony is scheduled for Monday, July 15, 2024, as announced by the President of the Bal Gandharva Sangeet Rasik Mandal, Suresh Sakhavalkar, and Executive President, Nana Kulkarni, in a press release.
The event will take place at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir at 5:00 PM, with retired Supreme Court Justice Uday Lalit conferring the awards. Former Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Kohinoor Group's Krishnakumar Goyal, industrialist Shridhar Prabhu, and renowned chartered accountant Vijaykant Kulkarni will be the chief guests.
At the same event, the Annasaheb Kirloskar Award will be presented to Mahadev Harmalkar from Goa, including ₹15,000 and a plaque. Other awards include the Bhaskarbuva Bakhale Award to Sivanand Dabholkar from Goa, the G. B. Deval Award to Deepti Bhogale from Pune, the Kaka Khadilkar Award to Ninad Jadhav from Pune, the Dr. Savalo Keni Award to Kedar Kulkarni from Talegaon Dabhade, and the Khaowale Patankar Award to Sudhir Thakur from Thane. Each of these awards carries a cash prize of ₹10,000 and a plaque.
Additionally, Dhanashree Phadke from Sangli and Rajabhau Shembekar from Chiplun will be honored with the Rangseva Award, while Abhay Jadhav and Madhuri Ambekar from Pune will receive the D. K. Lele Award. Tanvi Gore from Mumbai will be awarded the Laxmibai Pandit Award. Each of these awards includes a cash prize of ₹5,000 and a plaque.
Following the awards ceremony, a musical theater performance titled 'Gandharva Rang' will be held, featuring artists like Pandit Mahesh Kale, Bakul Pandit, Manjiri Karve Alegaonkar, Ninad Jadhav, Rajabhau Shembekar, Tanvi Gore, Sukrut Tamhankar, Dhanashree Phadke, Ravindra Kulkarni, and Suresh Sakhavalkar.
They will be accompanied by Sanjay Gogte and Sivanand Dabholkar on organ, Kedar Kulkarni and Vidyanand Deshpande on tabla, and Pragya Shevde on violin. This event is open to the public free of charge.
On Tuesday, July 16, the Bal Gandharva Sangeet Rasik Mandal will present the play 'Kanhopatra' at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha, and on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi, on Wednesday, July 17, the play will be performed at Bharat Natya Mandir. These performances will also be free for the public to enjoy.