Thirteen-year-old Swara Sharmad Prabhugaonkar from Cuncolim has won the first prize in the Junior Vocal Category (12 to 18 years) at the second Bharatiya Sangeet Vyjayanti 2026, a national Hindustani classical music competition held in Ahmedabad.
Prabhugaonkar performed raag bhoop, presenting the vilambit bandish ‘Balama tori yaad satave’ and the drut bandish ‘Jab se tumi san laagali’. The vilambit presentation was in a slow tempo, while the drut bandish was presented in a faster tempo.
The competition was organised in association with JG College of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad, and Saptak School of Music, in honour of late Vidushi Manju Mehta and late Pandit Yashodar Mehta. It featured Junior and Senior Categories in vocal and instrumental sections, with around 60 participants from around four states.
Fourteen contestants took part in the Junior Vocal Category. Participants competed in a single round held on the final day. To be eligible, they had to have been learning classical singing from an established institute or guru for at least three years. The judges were Sohan Nilkant and Maoshini.
Prabhugaonkar started learning Hindustani classical music at the age of five while living in Lagos, Nigeria, where she took online lessons. She began participating in competitions at the age of six. Since moving to India in 2024, she has continued her training in Hindustani classical singing and has taken part in several competitions and public performances.
In 2026, she secured second place at the Kala Sourabha International Online Competition organised by Veenadhari Institute of Music and Fine Arts and at the Bal Gandharv Natya Sangeet Spardha in Pune. She earlier won third place at the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Competition in Pune and second place at the Jadavpur University Classical Music Competition in 2025. She also won the Band It Music Festival in 2022.
She is now preparing for the Satguru Jagjit Singh Shastriya Sangeet Pratiyogita 2026 in Ludhiana, another national-level competition.
