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Lalit Kala Akademi, the National Academy of Art under the Ministry of Culture, celebrated its 72nd Foundation Day at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi.
The Chief Guest was Shri K.K. Mishra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, who paid floral tributes at the statue of Rabindranath Tagore at the venue.
A Timeline Exhibition depicted the Akademi's legacy and milestones across seventy-two years of service to Indian visual arts.
Two publications were released - 'Chitrakar Kanu Desai' and 'Kalaguru Ravishankar Raval', authored by Shri Kanaiyalal Fakirchand Patel.
Artists of the National Institute of Kathak Kendra presented classical dance and vocal music, and the Regional Centre at Bhubaneswar held parallel events.
India has three national academies of the arts, all autonomous bodies under the Ministry of Culture, and they divide the field between them. Lalit Kala Akademi is the National Academy of Art, covering the visual arts - painting, sculpture, graphics and allied forms. Sangeet Natak Akademi is the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, covering the performing arts, and also serves as India's nodal agency for UNESCO intangible cultural heritage nominations. Sahitya Akademi is the National Academy of Letters, covering literature across recognised Indian languages and conferring the Sahitya Akademi Award. All three were established in the mid-1950s in the first decade of independence, reflecting a deliberate decision that the new State would institutionally support the arts rather than leave them to the market or to princely patronage that had just ended. Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi houses them together, which is why the Tagore statue there features in this ceremony. Each Akademi confers its own honours - the Akademi Awards for achievement and the higher Fellowships, or Akademi Ratna, for lifetime distinction. Their regional centres, such as the Lalit Kala Akademi's at Bhubaneswar, extend that work beyond the capital.
Simple Analogy: Three academies, three domains - what you see, what you hear and watch, and what you read.
General Awareness > Art and Culture, Institutions
GS Paper 1 > Indian Culture: Institutions
General Awareness > Culture and Current Affairs
The three national Akademis appear frequently in SSC and Railway general awareness.
The National Academy of Art, covering visual arts, under the Ministry of Culture.
The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, and India's nodal agency for UNESCO intangible cultural heritage nominations.
The National Academy of Letters, covering literature and conferring the Sahitya Akademi Award.
The New Delhi building housing the national Akademis, where the Foundation Day was held.
The Fellowship conferred by an Akademi for lifetime distinction, ranking above its annual awards.