The Proud Indian Women Shakti Sangamam’s Shakti Awards recently held its inaugural event in Manchester. Aiming to spotlight, celebrate, and uplift women’s achievements across diverse fields, the charity organisation’s initiative seeks to honour the deep and lasting contributions women make – not only in the professional sphere but also in preserving cultural roots within the British Indian diaspora.
“If you look within the diaspora, women are at the forefront of carrying culture and heritage forward and passing it on to the future generations,” said Karthikeyan Murugesan, who founded the Shakti Sangamam along with his wife Mahalakshmi.
“British Indians have been in this country for a long time but our children are still, to this day, taking Carnatic music classes or Kathak classes. I think that is mainly down to the wonderful and passionate women in our societies who have kept the culture going and alive. So our vision was to identify women who have achieved remarkable things in their respective fields and recognise them. That’s how Shakti Awards was born,” he added.
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The award categories were designed to embrace a range of achievers, including ‘Artistic Excellence Award, ‘Business Leader Award’, ‘Young Icon Award’ and ‘Literacy Leader Award’ – and the winners were chosen on merit as well as votes from the community, which created quite the buzz in the community in Manchester.
Between them, founders Murugesan and Mahalakshmi helm several businesses and startups like Namma Kadaiveethi Pvt Ltd, Not in Syllabus and Sri Kanchi Mahalakshmi Silks, but their passion to create a positive impact is the driving force behind their latest venture.
“We didn’t just want this to be another event but rather something which would help someone in need. All the money raised from the Shakti Awards will go towards causes in India, whether it is building washrooms in schools or improving access to sanitation. We will announce which causes were supported at Shakti Awards 2025.”
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Alongside the awards, the event featured a lively cookery competition, showcasing exquisite delicacies prepared using two base ingredients – moong daal and mango. The celebrations also included an array of dancers and singers, with one of the highlights being a yoga performance where participants demonstrated 50 yoga asanas in under five minutes.
“Everyone who performed, or were nominated, got a small trophy or a medal,” said Hema Manjunath, one of the panellists at the event.
“It was important to encourage the kids and spread positivity and that’s why no one left the stage empty-handed,” she added.
*Info: Shakti Awards