Shri Mohan Swaroop Bhatia
Vrindavan / New Delhi, 2018.01.26 (VT): The well known Educationist of Vraja Bhumi, Shri Mohan Swaroop Bhatia has won the Padma Award for his work on preserving the folk culture of Vraja. On Thursday, the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, approved the Padma Awards for 85 nominees including Braj’s own Padma Shri Bhatia.
The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award of India given on the occasion of the Republic Day. The 73rd Padma Shri Awards mentioned Shri Mohan Swaroop Bhatiya for his work preserving and promoting the folk art and culture of Vraja. His nomination for the Padma Shri brought happiness among the brajwasi academicians of Mathura District.
Padma Shri Bhatia played important role in preserving the folk culture of Vraja and helping local artists to perform on the international platform. Talking to the media, Bhatia said that the award was an honor for the entire Vraja.
Social worker and Senior Journalist, Padma Shri Bhatia, was born in 1935 in Mathura. He completed his graduation from the Kishori Raman Degree College in Mathura. His father, Late Shri Girdhar Lal Bhatia, was a freedom fighter. The 83 year old Bhatia was just 22 when he started out as a journalist, in 1957. He worked for the Akashvani and Doordarshan apart from writing in different magazines. He was a well known face on the television when he reported the important festivals of Vraja on the Doordarshan channel. He reported on the festivals of Holi, Janmashtami, Radhashtami, Guru Poornima, Shravan etc.
Padma Shri Bhatia founded the premier education institution of Mathura, ‘Gyan Deep Academy’, in 1969. He travelled to the remote villages of Vraja on bicycle and collected and penned down more than 5000 folk songs. He has acted as the vice chairman of Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natya Academy and his literary work has rendered him the recipient of several awards. He received the honor of Lok Bhushan from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan.
He has also been awarded by different organizations that promote Hindi Literature. He is not only a literary genius, a journalist and a promoter of Vraja’s unique culture; he is also a great educationalist, who inspires youth to take interest in art and literature. (MS)
The post Mohan Swaroop receives Padma Award: An honor for entire Vraja appeared first on Vrindavan Today.