Odisha Govt Institutes Sunanda Award and Chair in Memory of Guruma Sunanda Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has decided to institute ‘Sunanda Award and Chair’ in memory of legendary Hindustani classical singer Sunanda Patnaik, popularly known as Guruma, who passed away on January 19.

This has been announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday.

The Sunanda Samman will be given away every year by the Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy to a prominent eminent classical singer of Odisha for his or her contribution in the field of classical music.

The Guruma Sunanda Patnaik Chair will be established at the Utkal University of Culture to promote higher education and research in classic music.

Apart from it, a state level condolence meeting will be held at Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre by the Information & Public Relations Department in association with Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy on Wednesday, an official statement said.

Notably, renowned Hindustani classical singer of Odisha and daughter of legendary Odia poet Baikunthanath Patnaik, Sunanda Patnaik, passed away on January 19 at the age of 85.

Born on November 7, 1934, Sunanda, popularly known as “Guruma”, had received Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1970 and 1971. She also received Indian lifetime achievement award in 2009 and lifetime achievement award from the Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) in 2012.

She was the recipient of Sangeet Natak Academy award (Tagore Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2012.

A documentary film ‘Nilamadhaba’ based on the biography of Sunanda had won the national award.