The Central government on Wednesday announced the recipients of the Padma Awards ahead of Republic Day 2023 and listed out six names for Padma Vibhushan, nine for Padma Bhushan and 91 for Padma Shri Awards.

 

Neihunuo Sorhie
Moa Subong

 

Neihunuo Sorhie and Moa Subong from Nagaland have been picked to be awarded the Padma Shri in the field of Art. Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

 

‘Padma Shri’ is for distinguished service in any field. These Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.

 

For the year 2023, the President has approved conferment of 106 Padma Awards including 3 duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one). The list comprises 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 2 persons from the category of foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 7 posthumous awardees.

 

Sorhie has taught and guided numerous women in learning the traditional Naga craft, and several of them have gone on to create their own handicraft shops. In addition to having a handicraft store in Kohima for almost 20 years, she is known for training over 300 individuals.

 

Sorhie is well recognized in the traditional handicraft community for her rigorous attention to detail patterns in her traditional weaving, and even more so for her unique original art motifs.
Sorhie has also been awarded the National Handloom Award during the 8th National Handloom Day celebration at the Convention Hall, The Ashok, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Sorhie is also a recipient of the Sant Kabir Award – an Indian Government award conferred to outstanding weavers who have made valuable contributions in keeping handloom heritage alive.

 

She has represented Nagaland in various National and International handloom events too.

 

Subong founded the rock fusion band, Abiogenesis, and is famous for inventing and playing the Bumhum, a wind bamboo instrument that produces unique indigenous tones that blends well with traditional Naga folk music. He also created a new music genre named Howey and another instrument called Tikzik.

 

For his unique innovation, Moa Subong was also awarded the 9th National Grassroots Innovation Award from Pranab Mukherjee, the former President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on March 4, 2017.

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