D. Sivamma receives the Shilp Guru Award for Leather Puppetry from President Droupadi Murma in 2025. | Photo Credit: Photo File
Recipients of the state government’s Ugadis awards include Mannava Satyanarayana, former Telugu professor and head of the department at Acharya Nagarjuna University, who was the first visually impaired individual in India to attain a Ph.D. at the national level in the field of literature and Satyavada Raghunadhamma and Satyavada Suryakumari (Satyavada Sisters), both visually impaired from birth but were widely acclaimed Carnatic vocal musicians and prolific writers who published around 125 stories in various magazines by dictating their thoughts to others.
D. Sivamma, an expert in leather puppetry who turned performance – a single art into a globally recognized craft and whose efforts have helped 1000s of artistes earn a living. In 2023, she won the Shilp Guru Award, the highest award in the field of handicrafts.
Surada Prasad, who created history as the first fisherman’s son to win the 2025 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in Literature, and Tamogna Mothukuri from Gudivada, who conquered the icy waters of Lake Constance at just five years old and swam 6.3 km non-stop across Germany and Austria in less than four hours.
Gowrabathini Ramanaiah, a legendary weaver from Venkatagiri who holds the UNESCO Certificate of Excellence in Handloom Weaving, Chadalavada Kiran Kumar and Chadalavada Sarath Babu of Anuradha Timbers International who made doors for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir village and Tappetagulla artists from the three districts of Neelabon who trained the youth of the three districts of Neelabon. mentoring 15 individuals to become independent Gurus themselves.
Gorrela Krishna Murthy, the performer of Burrakatha who has had 5,000 performances across India and in various countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Dubai and Bahrain, and painter Kalasagar Yellapu, whose book titled ‘Art of Andhra Pradesh’ has won awards.
Published – 19 March 2026 21:10 IST
