Ramchandra Manjhi ( IAST: Rāmcaṃdra māṃjhī;

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

: 𑂩𑂰𑂧𑂒𑂢𑂹६ 𑂧𑂰𑂖𑂹𑂕𑂲, 1925 – 7 September 2022) was an Indian Bhojpuri folk dancer and theatre artist who is famous as a

Launda Naach The Lavanda Nach (Bhojpuri: 𑂪𑂫𑂝𑂹𑂙𑂰 𑂢𑂰𑂒𑂢𑂰𑂒; Lit.: Boy's Dance) is a folk dance of the Bhojpuri speaking Community of India, Nepal, Mauritius and the Caribbean Islands. It is performed by only males who dress a ...

performer. He was one of the members of Bhikhari Thakur's drama team and was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognit ...

in 2017 and was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

in 2021.

Biography

Manjhi was born in Tajpur in the

Saran district Saran district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Indian state of Bihar. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chhapra district after the headquarters of the district, Chhapra. It is considered as one of the richest Zaminda ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

in 1925 in a

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a ...

family. At the age of 10, he joined the drama team of

Bhikhari Thakur Bhikari Thakur (18 December 1887 – 10 July 1971) was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writer in Bhojpuri language and ...

and until his demise (1971) he worked with him. He was the oldest member of the Drama team. In his life he performed before many big names like

Suraiya Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004), popularly known by the mononym Suraiya, was a popular actress and playback singer in India's Hindi-language films. She was active from 1936 to 1963, and was the most celebrated actress ...

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress and dancer. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses, Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by G ...

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

, Helen etc. In 2017, he won the Sangeet Natak Academy award, however his felicitation happened in 2019 by the President of India. In January 2021, he was awarded the

award in the field of Arts. He died on 7 September 2022 at IGIMS, Patna at the age of 97 due to heart related disease.

Filmography

* He worked in 72 minutes long

Documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

named "Naach Bhikhari Naach".

Awards and recognition

(2017) *

(2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manjhi, Ramchandra 1925 births 2022 deaths Indian male dancers People from Saran district Recipients of the Padma Shri