Veteran Hindustani classical vocalists Pandit Laxman Krishnarao Pandit and Padma Shri Sumitra Guha were honoured with the Lokmat Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards by chief guest Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta in New Delhi on Friday. Chairman of the editorial board, Lokmat Media Group, and former member of Rajya Sabha Dr Vijay Darda and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and former Union minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad was also present. (Special Arrangement)Veteran Hindustani vocalists Padma Shri Sumitra Guha and Pandit Laxman Krishnarao Pandit were honoured at the 13th edition of the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards ceremony held recently in Delhi.Guha, a leading exponent of the Kirana gharana, and Pandit, a Gwalior-gharana veteran, were recognised for their outstanding contribution to Indian classical music.“Music brings you closer to another realm. When you connect your life with music, you attain a sense of eternal and spiritual peace. Our country’s classical music has a soul that takes us closer to God,” said Vijay Darda, chairman of the editorial board of Lokmat Media Group and former member of the Rajya Sabha.Instituted in memory of Jyotsna Darda, the founder of Lokmat Sakhi Manch and an ardent connoisseur of music, the awards recognise excellence in Indian music while also encouraging promising talents each year through a separate selection of emerging artistes from vocal and instrumental streams. This year, the awards were held across nine cities, including Nagpur, Yavatmal, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Kolhapur, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, with the objective of reaching wider audiences.The ceremony was held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, with Justice Sandeep Mehta, a Supreme Court judge, as the chief guest. Noteworthy guests included Ramdas Athawale, Shripad Naik, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Naveen Jindal, Kartikeya Sharma, Rajeev Shukla and Kiran Chopra.The evening also witnessed a performance by singer Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa Live. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd