In which year did Pandit Birju Maharaj, the Kathak maestro, receive the Padma Vibhushan?

Explanation

Pandit Birju Maharaj (1938-2022), the most famous Kathak dancer of modern times, received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour, in 1986.

Birju Maharaj was born as Brijmohan Nath Mishra on 4 February 1938 in Lucknow, into the famous family of Kathak dancers of the Lucknow gharana. His father, Achhan Maharaj, and his uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, were great Kathak masters, and he began learning from them as a small child. His father died when he was nine. He began teaching at a young age at the Sangeet Bharati in Delhi, and later headed the Kathak Kendra in New Delhi until he retired in 1998. He then founded his own dance school, Kalashram, in Delhi. Birju Maharaj was known for his grace, his expressive abhinaya, his amazing rhythmic skill and his creative choreography. He was also a singer, a composer, a drummer who played the tabla and the naal, a poet and a painter. He choreographed dances for films, such as Satyajit Ray's "Shatranj Ke Khilari" (1977), "Devdas" (2002, "Kahe Chhed Mohe"), "Vishwaroopam" (2013), for which he won the National Film Award for Best Choreography, and "Bajirao Mastani" (2015, "Mohe Rang Do Laal"), for which he won the Filmfare Award. He also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1964), the Kalidas Samman and the Soviet Land Nehru Award. He died in Delhi on 17 January 2022.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1971 is the year in which Uday Shankar received the Padma Vibhushan.
• ✗1992 is the year in which Sonal Mansingh received the Padma Bhushan.
• ✗2003 is the year in which Sonal Mansingh received the Padma Vibhushan.