Entertainment
Tabala maestro honoured with Nararaj Dhakal Award
Tabala maestro Hom Nath Upadhyaya was presented with this year’s Sangeet Praveen Nararaj Dhakal Smriti Award on Monday at the Tridevi Temple, Thamel.During the event, the Pratisthan also announced a new award category titled “Nararaj Rameshwar Yuba Puraskar”. Prabhu Raj Dhakal, Chariman of the foundation, said that the new award has been announced to honour and promote the contribution of young artists in preserving classical music in Nepal. This year, the title was awarded to Drupad singer Bishnu Acharya.
The award function then made way for a classical concert.
Speaking at the programme, Dhakal said that the award not only honours Sangeet Praveen Nararaj Dhakal, but also stirs a movement in promoting original Nepali classical music.
Nararaj Dhakal is often credited with having introduced classical ragas in Nepali language. Before him, classical music used to be taught in Hindi and Urdu. He composed a number of songs in the Nepali and composed them on
the basis of several ragas, documenting them for the learning of future generations.