India, Jan. 25 -- At 94, Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya has spent a lifetime turning devotion into music, rhythm and storytelling. On Sunday, the Government of India honoured the Vadodara-based folk artist with the Padma Shri for 2026, recognising his more than seven decades of work in preserving Maanbhatt - an ancient Gujarati storytelling tradition now on the brink of extinction.

For over 73 years, Pandya has dedicated his life to keeping the Maanbhatt tradition alive. Maanbhatt is a unique Gujarati folk storytelling art in which a single performer - traditionally a Brahmin - narrates devotional stories from epics such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas in poetic song form.

Accompanying himself on a large copper or brass pot (ca...