In another proud moment for the state, three artists from Assam have been selected for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2017.

Xattriya dance artist Ramkrishna Talukdar from Guwahati, Art and Craft maestro Nuruddin Ahmed and Xattriya dance maestro from Barpeta Jagannath Bayan shall be conferred with the award by the President.

The names of recipients of the award for this year were not announced publicly; all recipients had received a notification about their selection via e-mail.

Two artists from Manipur and one from Mizoram have also been selected for the prestigious award.

It may be mentioned here that Nuruddin Ahmed has been involved in art direction of 52 films and 12 theatres, including 53 dramas while Ramkrishna Talukdar has taught the Xattriya art to students from France, America and Japan among other nations. Jagannath Bayan was conferred with the title 'Xatra Bhushan' in 2015.

The President will confer the awards to the winners, along with a sum of one lakh rupees.