Transgender folk dancer Manjamma Jogati received a Padma Shri award for her contribution to arts. Manjamma mastered, among other art forms, Jogati Nritya and Janapada songs, Kannada language sonnets in praise of various female deities.
Who is Manjamma Jogati?
- Manjamma Jogati is the first trans-president of the Karnataka Janapada Academy, the state government's top institution for folk art forms.
- Padma honours comes after decades of social and financial struggle.
- Amid poverty, social exclusion, and even rape, Jogati mastered arts.
- Manjamma was born as Manjunatha Shetty in Kallukamba village in Ballari district to Hanumantaiah and Jayalakshmi.
- Her family tried to rid her of her feminine nature. They tried various correctional methods.
- Despite all the hardships, poverty, social exclusion and even rape, She performed different artwork types and got rewarded.
- Jogati in 2006, was awarded the Karnataka Janapada Academy Award. 13 years later, in 2019, she was appointed president of the institution.
- In 2010, the Karnataka government honoured her with the annual Kannada Rajyotsava award.
What she said after recieving award?
“Human is human; there are no lesser human beings. Art is Art, there are no lesser Art/Artists. For many like me , Art itself is Life!”
-Manjamma Jogati
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