Art is collaboration between God and the artist and yet sometimes it requires mortal men to act as intermediaries and bring the works of art close to the people – to see, to love and to inspire. That was a dream behind legends of India – to present art forms, to help people understand and appreciate the rich cultural heritage of India. A journey of a thousand miles.
Dipayan Mazumdar took the momentous and conscious decision to do his bit to help initiate a gradual change in people’s mindset by promoting India’s rich traditional art forms. He knew something was to be done about it. He conceptualized and put together…’Legends of India’.
When we embarked on this journey in 1999, we did not know that Legends of India would traverse through such glorious decades. Close to two decades later, when we hear from different cultural communities, in different parts of the country and beyond, that Legends of India has assumed national dimensions over these years, our joy knows no bounds.
Legends of India’ has remained unflinchingly committed in its effort to identify, uphold and showcase the brilliance in different artistic traditions that exist in this country. Be it in Music, Drama, Dance, Visual Art or Literature.
‘Legends of India’ relentlessly organizes performances and interactive workshops, creates platforms for discourses besides Theatre Festivals and Fine Art exhibitions across the country, in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. Legendary artistes, viz. Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Vibhushan Girija Devi, Padma Vibhushan Shiv Kumar Sharma, Padma Shri Shubha Mudgal, , Husain, Jatin Das, Shuvaprassana and Biman Das to mention a few have participated on the LOI platform.
‘Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Awards’ that was first conceptualized in 2002 and has since then, gained national renown and appreciation from the cultural community. These awards were introduced to accord recognition to renowned and accomplished artistes for their unrelenting contribution to preserving and promoting Traditional Indian Art Forms. It is our belief that Artistes give grace and meaning to life and we are proud to honor such great personalities. By accepting the awards and gracing the award ceremonies, maestros like Habib Tanvir, Sitara Devi, Girija Devi, Paritosh Sen, Sankho Chaudhuri, Satish Gujral, Badal Sarkar, Krishen Khanna & Yamini Krishnamurthy, Ratan Thiyam, Birju Maharaj & T N Krishnan to mention a few, have added immense value to the salutation.
Initially, Soli J Sorabjee, Former Attorney General of India, and thereafter Amb. Lalit Mansingh, Former Foreign Secretary, has been chairing the selection committee of the Awards.
‘Legends of India’, has been organizing ‘Art Appreciation Lecture Series’ to preserve and propagate Indian Classical Art Forms, among general public and the youngsters in particular. Amb. Suresh Goel (Former DG, ICCR) curates these lectures with the main purpose of Art Education in order to develop creativity and awareness. Jatin Das, Jaya Jaitley, Amal Allana, Leela Venkatraman, Ashok Vajpeyi, Shovana Narayan and Dr Sonal Mansingh are some of the prominent speakers who have shared their invaluable views on this platform.
Legends of India introduced Morning Ragas/Baithaks in 2015 for the inmates of ‘Tihar Jail’ and since then it has met resounding success even in public domain. In this program mostly young talents along with established musicians are chosen to perform on a common platform and interact with the listeners. Stalwarts like Pt. Ronu Majumdar (Flute), Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (Sarod), Sunanda Sharma (Vocal), Uday Bhawalkar (Vocal) have left everyone spellbound with their musical skills.
Our endeavor is to create ambassadors of “Sangeet” (music & dance) who can carry forward our traditions and heritage forward and be instrumental in order to further the power of soft diplomacy. In addition, we are closely working with the State Government, Ministry of Culture besides other NGOs in order to introduce music classes for school children, particularly for the underprivileged and the differently-abled.
‘Legends of India’ was invited by Government of India to conceptualize and present a weeklong festival on the occasion of 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference (CPA) and The 20th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth at New Delhi. This was a rare honor given ever to any organization.
Governing Body
