G Gourakishor Sharma receives Padmashri Award from President

IMPHAL, Apr 1 : The President of India Pratibha Patil presented Gurumayum Gourakishor Sharma with the prestigious Padmashri Award for the year 2008-09 at a function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi this morning around 11.50 am.

Gurumayum Gourakishor Sharma was conferred the award for his life long contribution in the field of Manipuri Thang-Ta art. He attended the occasion in full Manipuri traditional attire wearing a Khamen Chatpa Pheijom (a special ceremonial dhoti) and he is the first person to be conferred this prestigious award in the field of Manipuri martial art of Thang Ta.

He was also the first person to receive the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from Manipur in the year 1983.

Answering a question raised by media persons at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, he asserted that the award was not merely a personal recognition, rather it was the recognition by the highest authority of the Manipuri art of Thang Ta.

He also declared that he would continue to strive to promote his art and said he dreamt of making his institute "Huiyen Lallong Manipur Thang-Ta Cultural Association" a premier centre for learning Thang-Ta and also one of the leading centres for promoting Manipur art and culture, not just inside the country but also all around the globe.

He appealed to the people of Manipur to take up the cause of preserving this ancient art so that it could survive and overcome the challenge of the modern world.