SurJyotsna National Music Awards a prolific musical platform for budding talents

SurJyotsna National Music Awards (SJNMA) is one of the most definitive platforms that honour aspiring young talent in Indian Classical & Popular music.Instituted by the Lokmat Media Group in memory of the founder president of Lokmat Sakhi Manch Mrs Jyotsna Darda, SJNMA’s mission is to identify and recognize music talents at the national level.Mrs Jyotsna Darda led her life in simplicity. Behind her quiet and unassuming demeanour hid a personality with strong will power and determination to make a difference in two fields – women empowerment and music. She launched the Lokmat Sakhi Manch across Maharashtra and Goa with a community of over 2.5 lakh women. A connoisseur of music, she practised the music and art till her last breath.

She was instrumental in establishing the Jawaharlal Darda Sangeet Kala Academy in Nagpur to provide a platform to students who are keen to learn music. The academy trains students from all strata of the society, some of whom have become known faces in the field of music. In recognition of her devotion to music, SurJyotsna National Music Award was instituted in March 2014 on her first death anniversary.SurJyotsna National Music Awards aims at recognising the budding talents who hold potential to take Indian music to the world level. It is an endeavour to pass on the tradition of rich music culture of India to the younger generation and to nurture Indian music in our country and abroad.The award is for young, talented, upcoming, and highly creative, innovative singers or instrumentalists between the age group of 12-25 years. The award is given to a talented artist who has mastered the art of India's Sangeet or traditional music with a global appeal.

The Surjyotsna National Music Awards Committee hopes that these awards would encourage, motivate and inspire the youngsters to innovate, create a great piece of work in Indian music and make an impact nationally and internationally.It also provides a financial incentive and an opportunity to aspiring but talented singers and classical musicians across India to showcase their talent and skill. It has been observed that the winners of the SurJyotsna National Music Awards have exhibited their immense talent and potential to make a mark in the music world.With eight successful editions, the SurJyotsna National Music Awards have established itself as one of the most prestigious awards in the field of music in the country. The winners of the awards have not only become popular in their own fields but also made great contributions to the promotion of music among the younger generation.The performances by the young music maestro winners are so far held across six cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Kolhapur and Nashik.

An eminent Jury Board comprising distinguished singers, music experts, composers from the field of music has been given freedom and power to evaluate the talent and performance of the artists and decide the awardees without any interference or influence from any quarter.Over the years stalwarts like Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia , Pt. Jasraj, Dr L Subramanium, Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Prasoon Joshi, Subhash Ghai, Shankar Mahadevan, Shubha Mudgal, Ajay-Atul, Anuradha Paudwal, Roop Kumar & Sunali Rathod, Shashi Vyas, Gauri Yadwadkar and former member of Parliament and author Vijay Darda have been the members of the robust jury board so far.The jury members scout talent through multiple sources and decide on two winners (one male & one female) who would be honoured with the coveted awards, trophies and a prize money of Rs 1 lakh each. The jury follows a prescribed criteria and eligibility modalities during the selection process.Every year, the award ceremony is held in different prominent cities of India and eminent personalities, dignitaries, renowned musicians and artists grace the occasion. Veterans from the field of music, art and culture are also felicitated on the occasion.The SurJyotsna National music Awards are promoted in multiple cities of the country and world through events, digital and other media platforms. These awards provide one of the most prestigious platforms to young and talented singers in Indian classical & popular music.

A Special Anthem

SurJyotsna Anthem was created by renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar, composed by Lalit Pandit and sung by the renowned singers Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. The anthem reflects diverse forms of Indian music.On the occasion of the 6th edition of SurJyotsna National Music Awards at Nagpur on 23rd March 2019, this anthem was launched in the august presence of the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Devendra Fadnavis; Union Minister Mr Nitin Gadkari and the the Union minister Mr Hansraj Ahir; the then Maharashtra ministers Mr Sudhir Mungantiwar, Mr Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Member of Parliament and former Union Minister Mr Praful Patel, star performer of the evening and Lokmat Maharashtra of the Year Award-2018 winner Shreya Ghoshal. During the launch function of the anthem, numerous luminaries and dignitaries from the fields of politics, social, administration, corporate and business were present in large numbers.

Members of Jury Board - 2022 

Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar,

Padma Bhushan Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt,

Padma Bhushan Ustad Rashid Khan

Renowned play back singer Roop Kumar Rathod 

 Pandit Shashi Vyas,

Gauri Yadawadkar, of Tomes Music

Vijay Darda Chairman of Editorial board of Lokmat Media and former Member of Rajyasabha

 2022 Winners

Shalmali Sukthankar & Mehtab Ali Niazi
Performance artists Kaushiki Chakraborty & Lydian Nadhaswaram

Performance given in 2019 at various centers by following artists:

Nagpur : Shreya Ghoshal

Nashik : Ketaki Mategaonkar, Suvarna Mategaonkar & Prasenjit Kausambi

Kolhapur : Rohit Raut & Aarya Ambekar

Mumbai : Kaushiki Chakraborty & Mahesh Kale

Pune : Suresh Wadkar, Savani Ravindra & Swapnil Bandodkar

Delhi : Nizami Bandhu