Archive · 17 Aug 2026
Dr Sarita Boodhoo Wins India's Highest Diaspora Honour for Bhojpuri
Dr Sarita Boodhoo is a lady who lives in Mauritius, a small island country in the ocean.
Her great-great-grandparents came to Mauritius from India a long time ago to work in sugarcane fields.
They spoke a language called Bhojpuri, and they sang songs to remember their home.
Dr Boodhoo wanted to make sure that language and those songs were never forgotten.
She started a special institute in 1982 to teach and celebrate Bhojpuri culture.
She also helped get the traditional Geet Gawai songs recognised by UNESCO, a big world organisation that protects special traditions.
Because of her hard work, the President of India gave her a very important award called the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.
This award is given to people of Indian origin living in other countries who do amazing things.
Her story shows that even a language can be kept alive with love and hard work.
Dr Sarita Boodhoo received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India's highest honour for the diaspora, from President Droupadi Murmu on 10 January 2025.
Born in Port Louis, Mauritius, she is a fourth-generation descendant of Girmitiya indentured labourers who arrived from India from 1834 onwards.
She founded the Mauritius Bhojpuri Institute in 1982, leading Bhojpuri Weeks, ballets and documentation of folk songs and proverbs.
In 2016, she led the Mauritian delegation that secured UNESCO recognition for Geet Gawai on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
She served as the inaugural Chairperson of the Bhojpuri Speaking Union from 2012 to November 2024 and has received honours including the GOSK in 2023.
- Who
- Dr Sarita Boodhoo, a Mauritian scholar, writer and cultural activist of Indian descent.
- What
- Received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India's highest honour for the diaspora, for her lifelong work preserving Bhojpuri language and culture.
- When
- 10 January 2025, on Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
- Where
- Mauritius, where her cultural revival work has been centred.
- Why
- For decades of work reviving Bhojpuri language, folk traditions and heritage, including UNESCO recognition of Geet Gawai.
- Award
- Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
- Recipient
- Dr Sarita Boodhoo
- Date
- 10 January 2025
- Presented by
- President Droupadi Murmu
- Founded
- Mauritius Bhojpuri Institute (1982)
- UNESCO milestone
- Geet Gawai inscribed in 2016
- Role
- Inaugural Chairperson, Bhojpuri Speaking Union (2012 - November 2024)
- Birthplace
- Port Louis, Mauritius