A schoolgirl on stage
Pokhila Lekthepi’s musical journey began very young. According to her official 2026 Padma citation, she was born on 21 August 1962 in Dopor Timung village, Dokmoka, Karbi Anglong. She loved singing from her school days, and her family encouraged it.
In 1974 she took part in the first Karbi Youth Festival and won prizes in both the modern and folk song categories. In 1975 she began composing her own songs and lyrics, and in 1976 won first prize for her own composition.
Radio and television
Her voice reached All India Radio, Guwahati, in 1978 and Doordarshan, Guwahati, in 1984. For decades after, she was part of how Karbi songs and the Karbi language were heard in public. A regional-language singer is not only a performer; she turns a community’s speech, feeling and memory into an audio archive.
From local stage to national honour
Best Singer awards, regional honours, the Assam Gaurav in 2024 and finally the Padma Shri in 2026 recognised her work. Even so, a detailed record of her career is still scattered across Assam and Karbi sources.
Small community festivals can be the training ground of national artists, and music in regional languages is a precious archive of cultural memory.
Sources
- PIB / Padma Awards 2026: official citations
- Padma Awards 2026: notification
- The Sentinel Assam: profile
- static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jun/doc2026623901101.pdf
- padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/Notifications/PadmaAwards/PadmaAwards2026.pdf
- sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/assam-news/assam-pakhila-lekhthepi-inaugurates-competition-at-nagaon-university