Sports Ministry unveils new look Sports Awards/ Trophies
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has redesigned the National Sports and Adventure awards / trophies to give them a new look. The statuettes/medals of Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award , Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award , Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award have been redesigned completely to depict the human aspiration for excellence and achievement embodied in the sporting endeavor.
Traditionally, Arjuna has always been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration and Dronacharya’s legend as a Guru, remains the cornerstone of the value of the teacher. It is from here that the statuettes of Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya Award derive their inspiration. The artiste, while retaining the traditional symbolism, has given the statuettes a new look, which is both aesthetic and contemporary.
The trophy for the Dhyan Chand Award is the statuette of Major Dhyan Chand, who is known to be the greatest hockey icon of all times. He won three consecutive Olympic gold medals for Indian team in 1928, 1932 and 1936 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956.
Similarly, the statuette for Adventure Award is designed after Tenzing Norgay, the most famous mountain climbers in history. He was one of the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953 along with Edmund Hillary.
The re-designed statuettes are made of bronze affixed on ebony wooden base. Each statuette is 15’’ in height and weighs approximately 1.5 kilograms. The statuettes have been polished so as to give them an antique look to highlight the age of the characters that are sought to be depicted.
The artist, Shri Gajendra Sahu, who has redesigned these Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Tenzing Norgay Award , is a senior faculty member at the B.K. College of Government Arts and Crafts College at Bhubaneswar. Orissa.
The medal given to Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees has also been redesigned by enhancement of the elements using the medallion as a source of Inspiration. The new medal is gilt-edged to highlight the unique achievements and attempts to bring forth the prestige and honour associated with the award.
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is being awarded for the first time. The award is designed as a torch which is a celebration of Life and continuous human endeavour for higher achievements in Sports. The Bronze and Silver Base, through its form, symbolize an Institution. The woven gold torch ascending into a flame depicts human aspiration for excellence. The four strands of the symbolic flame represent the four key ingredients of sports development viz: Community Sports – Identification and Nurturing of budding talent; Financial support for sports excellence; Establishment and Management of Sports and Academies of Excellence Employment of Sports persons and Sports welfare measures
The designer of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna medal and the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, Shri Mukul Goyal, is an alumni of IIT Kanpur, National Institute of Design, Ahemdabad and Domus Academy, Milan.
National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for spectacular performance in the year under consideration; Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for three consecutive years preceding the year of award; Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development; and Dronacharya Award for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events in the past three years.
Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees will receive this year an enhanced cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh each. Similarly, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya Awardees will receive statuettes, citations and an enhanced cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each. The recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will receive trophy and citation.
The eminent sportspersons, coaches and institutions, who have been selected for this year Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards, Arjuna Awards, Dhyan Chand Awards, Dronacharya Awards , Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar , Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy will receive their awards from Her Excellency the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday , August 29, 2009.
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RM/AS
(Release ID :52143)