Indore’s National Lata Mangeshkar Award Celebrations Begin September 27; Shantanu Moitra To Be Honoured

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A prestigious two-day National Lata Mangeshkar Award ceremony and musical evening will begin on Sunday at the Lata Mangeshkar Auditorium. The National Lata Mangeshkar Award 2026 will be conferred upon music director Shantanu Moitra on Monday.

NP Namdev, director of the Department of Culture, said a musical evening titled 'Amar Lata Hamari Lata...' (Immortal Lata, Our Lata...) will be held on Sep 27 from 7 pm. City singers Abhay Ahuja, Vivek Bhardwaj, Sanjot Barot, Padma Shukla, Sushma Rao, Siddharth Dubey, Vaishali Chauhan, Muskan Chauhan, Saumya Sinha and Deepika Purohit will perform. Entry will be free.

The award ceremony and musical evening will take place on Monday from 7 pm. Renowned music director Shantanu Moitra (Mumbai) will be honoured.

The award comprises a tax-free cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation plaque. After the ceremony, famous singing duo Sachet-Parampara will perform. Entry will also be free.

National Lata Mangeshkar Award established in 1984

Namdev said the National Lata Mangeshkar Award was instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1984 to encourage artistic excellence in 'Sugam Sangeet' (light music).

The award is conferred alternately for music composition and singing. So far, 42 eminent personalities have been honoured.

At last year's award ceremony, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Mumbai) were honoured for music direction for 2024 and Sonu Nigam (Mumbai) for playback singing for 2025.

Preservation of cultural heritage

The state government has a long-standing tradition of preserving and promoting its cultural heritage. The award ceremony and musical evening continue that tradition.

The state has been the birthplace and workplace of many eminent personalities. Lata Mangeshkar, the 'Nightingale of India' and Bharat Ratna awardee, was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She sang thousands of songs that remain popular to this day.