New Delhi, Aug 13: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday warned that many of India’s folk art forms are facing the threat of extinction and called for concerted efforts to preserve and transmit them to future generations, saying documentation alone would not be sufficient to keep these traditions alive.
Speaking after presenting the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for 2024 and 2025 in New Delhi, the President urged senior artists to make systematic efforts to groom the next generation and strengthen the centuries-old Guru-Shishya tradition.
“In today’s rapidly changing times, many of our folk art forms face the threat of extinction. It is essential not only to document such art forms but also to make special efforts to keep them alive,” she said.
Murmu said the Guru-Shishya tradition has played a vital role in preserving India’s diverse artistic heritage, describing the Guru as the “most important book” for the country’s art forms. She welcomed the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s ‘Kala-Diksha’ programme aimed at preserving traditional arts and encouraging knowledge transfer.
The President said the artists honoured by the Akademi collectively represented India’s vast cultural landscape, encompassing stories, songs, dances, festivals, languages and dialects that have evolved over centuries.
Highlighting the deep connection between Indian culture and nature, she said the country’s diverse culinary traditions, attire, dance forms and music draw inspiration from the natural world. Artists, she noted, often derive inspiration from birds, rivers, waterfalls, trees and clouds in their creative expressions.
Murmu said folk and tribal arts reflected a natural zest for life and a profound communion with nature, adding that community memory and collective consciousness found spontaneous expression through these traditions.
“That is precisely why folk arts constitute a vital foundation of India’s cultural identity,” she said.
Congratulating the recipients of the Fellowships and Awards, the President described artists as the “guardians of our collective memory and the creators of the vision for the future.”
She also termed the Sangeet Natak Akademi an important centre of India’s soft power and expressed confidence that it would continue to enrich the world with India’s cultural energy in the years ahead.
