PM Modi to Present First Bhupen Hazarika National Award to Usha Mangeshkar on Nov 29

Veteran playback singer Usha Mangeshkar will receive the Dr Bhupen Hazarika National Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the closing ceremony of the legendary singer and composer’s birth centenary celebrations in New Delhi on November 29, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already given consent to attend this closing ceremony,” Sarma told reporters in Guwahati. “Singer Usha Mangeshkar has already given her consent to accept this award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the award to Usha Mangeshkar in this programme.”

THE CEREMONY

The programme, to be held at Bharat Mandapam, will last two hours and bring together national and state-level artists. Sarma said invitations will go to ambassadors of several countries, governors and chief ministers of states, Union ministers, MPs and people who worked with Hazarika. About 5,000 people are expected, he has said earlier.

The centrepiece will be a tribute in song. “1,000 artists and invited artists will perform the song ‘Manuhe Manuhor Babe’ at the event,” Sarma said. The song, whose title means “for the sake of man,” is one of Hazarika’s best-known and carries his humanist message.

THE AWARD

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a citation, and will be conferred once every three years. Assam’s government instituted it this year to honour singers, musicians, composers, directors, actors and others who show exceptional proficiency in the fields associated with Hazarika’s artistic legacy. Mangeshkar was named the first recipient on October 23, in recognition of her contribution to Indian music and her association with Hazarika’s creations.

THE CENTENARY

Hazarika, known as Sudhakantha and the “Bard of the Brahmaputra,” was born on September 8, 1926, in Sadiya in Assam’s Tinsukia district. He was a singer, composer, lyricist and filmmaker whose music, poetry and humanist philosophy carried the culture of the Northeast to the rest of India and beyond. He died in Mumbai on November 5, 2011, at the age of 85, and was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.

The year-long centenary celebrations began on September 8, 2025. Modi attended a special tribute event, released a commemorative Rs 100 coin and a biography titled “Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika.” Assam also renamed his memorial in Guwahati the Dr Bhupen Hazarika Samannay Tirtha, for his message of harmony and cultural integration.

With inputs from ANI