Kathmandu, Feb. 13: Director and artist b.s. rana has been named the winner of this year’s Sarbanam Award.

Instituted in 2038, Sarbanam Award carrying a purse of Rs 10,000 is given to any artist or organisation making important contributions in the field of Nepalese stage (drama).

Rana, whose career in stagecraft spans four decades, has worked and directed in over three dozen plays.

He is also renowned in India and the United Kingdom for his acting, more recently for his direction of the plays ‘Siddhartha’ and ‘Basanti.’

Seventeen persons have already received the prize so far.

The award will be presented to him on the occasion of the nineteenth annual function of Sarbanam on March 31.