Siddashram (R), 17th Cross, Malleswaram, awarded the title of Sangeetha Choodamani on Veena Vidwan C Nagaraj on April 2.  As a Veena teacher and Veena player, Veena Nagaraj was tutored by his late father eminent Vainika Vidwan Cheluvaraya Swamy. Nagaraj made his debut at the age of thirteen. Since then he has risen steadily and participated in major music festivals across the State. Nagaraj was pleased by the honours and expressed his pleasure and satisfaction and voiced his sense of gratitude for his late guru.

The public presentation of the award was preceded by a brief 15 minutes function duringwhich Nagaraj and his wife Manjula Nagaraj were greeted and garlanded by the president of the Sabha. He represented Mysore Veena at several important music festivals and earned appreciation. His disciples, many of them good Veena players, are in other professions like teaching and also software engineers.