 Nandakumara, Sivanesan honoured in UK with Lifetime Achievement award:

Who: Dr MN Nandakumara and
Sivasakthi Sivanesan
Where: Nehru centre in the UK
What: Honoured with Lifetime
Achievement Award & Sangeet Acharya
Ratna
Indian High Commissioner to the UK,
Ranjan Mathai in October 2015
honoured Dr MN Nandakumara and
Sivasakthi Sivanesan with Lifetime
Achievement Award and Sangeet
Acharya Ratna Award respectively in
London.
Nandakumara, Executive Director of the
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London, and
Sivasakthi Sivanesan, Resident Carnatic
Music at the Bhavan were awarded for
their contribution to Indian arts and
music at a function held at the Nehru
centre.
The duo has been propelling the
Bhavans mission of teaching and
promoting traditional Indian arts and
culture in the UK.
Other awards announced and their
recipients include
• Nritya Acharya Award - Pushkala
Gopal
• Tarang Musician of the Year -
Jasdeep Singh Degun
• Samyo Musician of the Year -
Sanjuran Keerthikumar
• Young Musician of the Year - Yarline
Thanabalasingham
• Young Dancer of the Year - Parbati
Chaudhury
Nandakumara who spent his working
life at the Bhavan has taught Sanskrit at
the Bhavan. He carries PhD in
devotional literature at the School of
Oriental and African Studies at the
University of London. He commenced
full-time work at the Bhavan in 1984
and took the helm as Executive Director
in 1996.
Sivasakthi Sivanesan, who passes on
the knowledge of centuries of music
through teaching in the traditional guru-
shishya way, has been teaching
carnatic vocal and Vina at the Bhavan.
She is an outstanding performer in her
own right.
This was the first ever National Indian
Arts Awards hosted by Indian arts
development trust Milapfest. Milapfest
established the awards in order to
recognise the dedication of arts
professionals working in the field of
Indian arts and to celebrate the hard
work and passion of young artists.
• Milapfests Executive Director -
Prashant Nayak
The awards were supported by Arts
Council England whose Deputy Chief
Executive Althea Efunshile extolled the
role of arts and culture.