Renowned Carnatic vocalists, D Raghavachary and D Seshachary, who are popular as Hyderabad Brothers and have enthralled classical music lovers for decades, have been chosen for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi (New Delhi) Award for 2013.

Their names were announced during the declaration of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) and Akademi Award (Akademi Puraskar).

The brothers, top-grade vocalists at All India Radio, Hyderabad, have been performing Carnatic music for over 45 years. They were honoured by the state government with Kala Ratna (Hamsa) award in 2012. The other awards they received include Sageeta Vidwanmani from Sadguru Sangeeta Sabha, Suvarna Hasta Kankanam, Gandharva Gana Kalanidhi, Sangeeta Kalasaagara, Sangeeta Choodamani, Sangeeta Kalamani and Asthana Vidwans.

The General Council of the Akademi, at a meeting held in New Delhi on November 21, selected three eminent personalities in the field of performing arts _ Kanak Rele, R Satyanarayana and Mahesh Elkunchwar _ as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna).

The fellowship is the most prestigious and considered to be a rare honour, which is restricted to a very limited number at a given time.

Currently, there are only 40 fellows of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The council also selected 38 artistes (two joint awards) from the fields of music, dance, theatre and puppetry for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Akademi Puraskar).