Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi, under the Department of Culture, hosted the Lucknow division’s classical and light music competitions at the Sant Gadge Ji Maharaj Auditorium. The event, the 51st Divisional Classical and Light Music Competition 2025-26, was inaugurated by Akademi Chairman Prof. Jayant Khot, who also welcomed the panel of judges.
On the third day of the three-day competition, Bhajan and Ghazal categories were held for light music. The judging panel included Dr. Akanksha Pal from Prayagraj and Devesh Chaturvedi from Lucknow. They provided valuable feedback and tips to the participants to help them improve their performances.
Participants across the children’s, adolescent, and youth categories gave original renditions of Bhajans and Ghazals.
Results of the Bhajan Competition:

- Children’s Category: Drishti Pandey secured first place, Daksha Gupta came in second, and Samriddhi Chandra along with Darsh Dixit tied for third.
- Adolescent Category: Akarsh Singh Somvanshi won first place, Aarna Dewaskar and Aman Javed Farooqui tied for second, and Sahaj Preet Kaur came in third.
- Youth Category: Priyanka Srivastava took the first prize, Rohit Sharma was second, and Ratna Chaturvedi and Sara tied for third.
Results of the Ghazal Competition:
- Children’s Category: Drishti Pandey won first place.
- Adolescent Category: Aman Javed Farooqui secured first place.
- Youth Category: Ankush Nirmal took the top spot, and Rohit Sharma was awarded second.
The competition was coordinated by Renu Srivastava, with support from Dr. Pawan Kumar and Sunil Yadav. Dr. Sunil handled the stage proceedings.
