At the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi
Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam received the Padma Shri Award from President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday March, 28. In 2022, President Ram Nath Kovind handed out 128 Padma Awards, of which 4 are Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri. The Padma Awards are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
Padma Shree, is the fourth - highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. It is awarded by the Government of India every year on India's Republic Day.
Earlier on March 21, the President had conferred two Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan, and 54 Padma Shri Awards.
The official Twitter handle of the President of India, shared an image of the ceremony and wrote, "President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Shri Sonu Nigam for Art. A well - known singer and music director, he has sung over 6,000 songs in more than 28 languages."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda were present during the event. Sonu Nigam was seen sporting a white kurta at the event as he was awarded one of the highest civilian honours in the country. He dedicated his award to his mother.
He was quoted saying, "I'm thankful to the Government of India for thinking of me as a deserving candidate and bestowing me the Padma Shri. My heartfelt thanks to all those selected me and suggested my name for this prestigious honour. I would also like to thank my mother, Sobha Nigam and my father, Agam Kumar Nigam. In fact I wanted to dedicate this award to my mother. Had she been here today, she would have cried a lot."
Sonu Nigam has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema. He is also a receiver of several accolades including the National Film Award. He has predominantly sung in Hindi and Kannada languages but he has also proved his mettle by singing in Odia, Bengali, Nepali, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, and other Indian languages.
A few of his evergreen songs are Kal Ho Naa Ho, Suraj Hua Maddham, Main Agar Kahoon, Do Pal, and more. Sonu is often denoted as the 'Lord of Chords'.
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