Who among the following was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947?

Correct — D. Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer received the Sangita Kalanidhi from the Music Academy, Madras, in 1947, at the age of 39.

Born in 1908, he remains the youngest musician the Academy has honoured with the title, and that record is precisely what the stem asks for.

So the 1947 award and the youngest-recipient distinction both belong to option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Bhimsen Joshi — Bhimsen Joshi sang Hindustani music, in the Kirana gharana. The Sangita Kalanidhi is the Music Academy's Carnatic honour, and the award most associated with him is the Bharat Ratna of 2008.
• (b)
  Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar — Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar was a Carnatic vocalist and a Sangita Kalanidhi himself, remembered for settling the modern kacheri (concert) format. He belonged to an older generation, so the youngest-recipient record is not his.
• (c)
  Mallikarjun Bheemarayappa Mansur — Mallikarjun Mansur sang in the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, again Hindustani. Gharana is a Hindustani term, and the Music Academy's title is conferred at its Carnatic conference.

Sangita Kalanidhi is the highest honour in Carnatic music, given by the Music Academy, Madras, to the musician who presides over its annual December conference.

The question turns on one record: the youngest recipient. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer (1908-2003) received it in 1947 at 39, and the record still stands.

What makes the item hard is that all four names are major twentieth-century vocalists — but two of them sing a different tradition altogether.

Key facts

• Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer (1908-2003) received the Sangita Kalanidhi in 1947 at the age of 39, the youngest recipient.
• The Sangita Kalanidhi is awarded by the Music Academy, Madras, and is the leading honour in Carnatic music.
• Bhimsen Joshi and Mallikarjun Mansur were Hindustani vocalists, not Carnatic musicians.
• Bhimsen Joshi received the Bharat Ratna in 2008.

Common traps

• Reading Sangita Kalanidhi as a pan-Indian music award and choosing a Hindustani vocalist
• Answering with the best-known name in the list instead of the one the record belongs to

No directly related past PYQ was found.