A total of 139 entries will receive awards in The Hindu Margazhi 2025 competition

The results of The Hindu Margazhi Competition 2025 are out and the list of winners in both Hindustani and Carnatic styles is now available on its website.

The jury awarded a total of 139 prizes, including 43 first prizes, 43 second prizes and 27 third prizes. There are also special certificates for children who have performed well and received recognition from vidwans and vidushis marking their performances.

A total of 1,063 videos from Carnatic and Hindustani music enthusiasts were received for The Hindu Margazhi Music Contest, which ended in mid-January 2026.

Entries were sorted and sent to judges in March 2026 who watched the presentations to check that the raga, krithi and thala were perfect and made tough decisions to finalize the marks.

Violinist vidushi and composers LN Sisters – M. Lalitha and M. Nandini – who judged the entries in the instrumental category said, “Over the years we have seen more and more dedicated students participating in this competition. We are able to see that they are also very knowledgeable. This is a very unique platform for music students in this category to showcase their talent and hard work and get all the best from The Hindu live. Forward.”

Singer Varalakshmi Anandkumar, a senior disciple of the late vidwan DK Jayaraman, said, “It has been a privilege to judge The Hindu’s Margazhi competitions over the past few years and it never ceases to amaze me the wealth of talent showcased by the contestants. In fact, judging these competitions is both an aural delight and a selection of the best of talented singers in different dimensions. Impressive line-ups often require multiple listening sessions. It is wonderful to listen to a girl or boys who are barely in their teens to sing Dhanyasi or Thodi with the kind of understanding one can only get from years of singing and listening. It’s also amazing that brilliant singers are emerging from areas rarely heard of, across Haindhra and even in the promotion of solid musical values in the US.”

Hindustani guru and singer Lalita Sharma, who trained under Pandit Jasraj, said, “I am very happy that more singers and instrumentalists participate in this competition every year. I see that more than one-third of the participants are good and have a musical background. It is very promising to see such young people singing with such awareness.”

Two new judges

The panel this time had two new faces — mridangam vidwan Sridharan Sankaran, who started learning mridangam from Thiruvarur S. Janakiraman in the Palani Subramanya Pillai lineage and received advanced training from Mannargudi Easwaran, and Carnatic singer Sajeev Chandraman, who started learning music at the age of four and started learning music from Jajayaraman.

Both musicians said they enjoyed watching the entries and giving grades. They were also impressed by how the young children patiently learned to perform and sent their contributions.

For a full list of winners, click newsth.live/winnerslist.

Published – 09 Jul 2026 0:59 IST