Kerala Government's highest honour for music, Swathi Puraskar, has been awarded this year to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan for his outstanding contribution to Indian music.
The award will be presented to the sarod maestro by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in August. The announcement was made by K C Joseph, Kerala Culture Minister.
A five-member committee headed by Soorya Krishnamoorthy, chairman of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy took the decision to confer the honour to Amjad Ali Khan. The Academy is under the Department of Culture in the Kerala government.
The award is named after the great composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal. Earlier awardees included Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Ustad Bismillah Khan. The award includes citation, Rs one lakh and a trophy.
