Udupi, Oct 20: Mahalakshmi Shenoy, a musician from Karkala, has been selected for the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi’s ‘Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar’ for the year 2024-25. With this, she has earned the distinction of being the first artist from the coastal region of Karnataka to receive an Akademi award in the field of Hindustani classical music.
The 38-year-old artist, who entered the world of music at the age of three, has performed in over 1,500 concerts over the past two decades. She has received this honor in recognition of her achievements in Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the legendary musician Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, she is also proficient in Carnatic classical music and Bharatanatyam.
She is an ‘A’ grade artist at All India Radio (Akashvani). Holding degrees in MSW and MS, she also earned an MA in Music from Mohanlal Sukhadia University (MLSU), Udaipur, where she was awarded a gold medal. Her other accolades include the Udupi District ‘Suvarna Rajyotsava’ Award and the ‘Konkani Nakshatra Yuva Sadhaki’ (Konkani Star Young Achiever) Award from the Karnataka Konkani Academy.