Meet Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee Pandit Chhannulal Mishra

The Hindustani classical singer, Pandit Chhannulal Mishra was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan 2020 on Monday, November 8. The award is India’s second-highest civilian award and the musician was presented with it by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.

The classical singer was earlier awarded the Padma Bhushan award in 2010, India’s third-highest civilian honour.

Pandit Chhannulal Mishra awarded prestigious Padma Vibhushan 2020

The legendary musician is commonly known as the Jewel of Thumri and was born in Hariharpur, located in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. He was born to Badri Prasad Mishra, who introduced him to the world of music and gave him his very first training in the field. The singer is known for his multiple ghazals and bhajans and is also remembered for his Bollywood number Sans Albeli, from the film Aarakshan. The 2011 film saw  Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, and others take on pivotal roles on the big screen.

The President of India’s official Twitter account saw a picture of Ram Nath Kovind with the musical legend at the award ceremony on Monday. In the caption of the image, Pandit Chhannulal Mishra was described as being 'equally proficient in classical, semi-classical, light music and folk music.' The caption read, "President Kovind presents Padma Vibhushan to Pandit Chhannulal Mishra for Art. Hindustani classical and semi-classical vocalist, Shri Mishra has the distinction of being equally proficient in classical, semi-classical, light music and folk music."

See the picture here

The Padma awards are the highest civilian honours in the country. They are announced every year, on the eve of Republic Day. According to a report by ANI, the awards have three main categories, which are Padma Vibhushan (exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). The Padma Awards were held on November 8 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. They were presided by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, the award ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Home Minister Amit Shah. A total of 119 awards will be presented this year.

Image: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn