Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 4: The legendary Kashmiri singer, Raj Begum, popularly called as Lata Mange-shkar of Kashmir has been conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar 2013.
The award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama, is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists Rs 50,000, a citation, a shawl and a tamrapatra.
86 years old Raj Begum, the melody queen of Kashmir, who is already a recipient of Padmashree Award- 2002, has been bestowed this year’s national honour for her contribution to traditional/folk music. She was born at Magarbal Bagh in Srinagar on March 27, 1927. Her father was Ghulam Rasool Sheikh. Like most of the great singers she started singing in her childhood. As she grew up she sang in weddings. After Independence when Radio Kashmir began to broadcast Kashmiri musical programs, Raj Begum also started singing at Radio Kashmir and continued to sing until 1986.
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