Kalaimamani

The Kalaimamani (lit. 'Jewel of Arts') is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements.

The Tamil Nadu government has appointed dancer Chitra Visweswaran as the secretary of Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram. Film music director Deva is its chairman.

Awardees by year

1958–60

Actor

• Padmini

1962–63

Actor

• Sivaji Ganesan

1968–70

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1958–69.

Actor

• K. A. Thangavelu

Music

• K. S. Narayanaswamy (vainika)

1969–1970

Actor

• Sowcar Janaki

1970–71

Music

• M. S. Viswanathan (composer)

1971–72

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1971–72.

Music

• Madras A. Kannan (mridangam)
• G. N. Dhandapani Iyer (veena)

1972–73

Actor

• J. Jayalalithaa

Music

• P. K. Subbaiyar

1977–78

Actor

• Srividya

1978–79

Actor

• Kamal Haasan

1979–1980

Actor

• Vyjayanthimala

Music

• Manna Dey

1980–81

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1980–81.

Actors

• Sripriya

Music

• Thanjavur R. Ramamoorthy (mridangam)

1981–82

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1981–82.

Music

• Madurai N. Krishnan
• S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

1983–84

Actor

• P. Bhanumathi

1984–85

Actors

• Rajinikanth
• Sabhapati Srinivas

1986–87

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1986–87.

Music

• K. J. Yesudas (singer)
• S. Janaki (singer)

1987–88

Music

• Tiruchi S. Swaminatha Iyer (carnatic)

1988–89

Music

• Ilaiyaraaja (composer)

1991–92

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1991–92.

Actor

• Sukumari

Music

• P. Leela

1992–93

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1992–93.

Actor

• Revathi

Music

• V. V. Subrahmanyam

1993–94

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1993–94.

Actors

• R. Sarathkumar
• Sukanya
• S. Ve. Shekher
• Kathadi Ramamurthy
• Delhi Ganesh
• T. P. Samikannu
• R. V. Udayakumar

Music

• Swarnalatha (singer)
• D. K. Pattammal (carnatic lyricist)
• Sudha Ragunathan (carnatic vocalist)
• P. Ganammal (harmonium)
• T. G. Subramaniam (thavil)

Other

• L. S. Ramamirtham (tamil literature)
• Malavika Sarukkai (bharatanatyam)
• Sundararaj naidu (karagam artiste)

1994–95

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1994–95.

Actors

• Arvind Swamy
• Khushbu Sundar

Director

• Mani Ratnam

Music

• A. R. Rahman

1995–96

Music

• P. Jayachandran
• K. S. Chithra

Bharatnatyam

• Revathi Ramachandran

1998

Actors

• Prashanth Thiagarajan
• Meena
• Vijay
• Napoleon
• Thangar Bachan
• Palani Bharathi

Music

• Idumbavanam K.S. Kannan

Bharatnatyam

• Priyadarsini Govind

1999

Bharatanatyam

• Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala

Writer

• Piraisudan

2000

Actors

• Ajith Kumar
• Devayani

Music

• Nithyasree Mahadevan
• Swarnalatha
• Girija Ramaswamy

2001

Actors

• Vijayakanth
• Murali
• Rekha
• Gundu Kalyanam
• T. K. Pugazhendi
• A. P. Komala
• Radhu S. Radhakrishnan
• T. K. S. Karuppaiah
• 'Periyar' Rajavelu
• V. Brinda

Literature

• M.R. Gurusamy

Music

• Shashank Subramanyam
• Vairamangalam Lakshmi Naryanan
• Manakkal S. Rangarajan
• M. A. Sundareswaran (violin)
• Madurai T. Srinivasan (mridangam)
• T. M. Krishnamurthy (mridangam)
• R. Kalyanaraman (ghatam)
• Rajalakshmi Narayanan (veena)
• Seetha Doraiswamy (jalatarangam)
• Adyar S. Jayaraman (nadhaswaram)
• Thirunageswaram T. R. Govindarajan (thavil)
• Valayapatti S. Malarvannan (thavil)
• P. V. N. Nadhamani (clarinet)
• K.Somu (devotional songs)
• Karandhai G. Damodaran (devotional songs)
• Rathinasabapathy Desikar (thevaram)

Bharatanatyam

• Udipi Lakshmi Narayanan
• M. V. Narasimhachari
• Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari
• Nellai D. Kannan
• T. K. Padmanabhan
• C. R. Radha Badhri

Folk Arts

• A. Gunavathi (karagam)
• V. Dakshinamurthy (street play).

2002

Actors

• Vijayashanti
• Vinu Chakravarthy
• Goundamani
• Senthil
• S. M. S. Vasanth
• K. G. `Typist' Gopu
• Kovai Anuradha
• K. S. Krishnan
• Koothapiran

Literature

• L. P. Karu Ramanathan Chettiar
• Ponnadiyan

Music

• T. S. Narayanasamy (vocal)
• Meera Sivaramakrishnan (violin)
• Ramani (veena)
• Vaikkom R. Gopalakrishnan (ghatam)
• S. Venkataraman (flute)
• T. S. Vasudeva Rao (tabla)
• A. C. Jayaraman (nadhaswaram)
• S. Kasim (nadhaswaram)
• Vazhuvur R. Manickavinayakam (light music)
• Kovai Natarajan (harmonium)

Dr. S. Sunder (music research)

Bharatanatyam

• Krishnaveni Lakshmanan
• Ananda Shankar Jayant
• C. V. Chandrasekhar
• Mannargudi N. Sakthivadivel
• C. P. Venkatesan
• Yogam Santhanam
• Melattur S. Kumar

Folk arts

• Sarangapani (karagam)
• P. A. Subbulakshmi Palaamadai (villupattu)

2003

Actors

• Prakash Raj
• Simran
• Kanaka
• Vivek
• L. Vaidyanathan
• Gajapathy
• Nanjil P. T. Sami
• K. R. Rathinam

Musical dance

• S. Soundappan

Music

• Sulochana Pattabhiraman (vocal)
• Nagai Muralidharan (violin)
• S. Ravindaran (veena)
• Mannargudi A. Eswaran (mridangam)
• R. Raman (morsing)
• H. Ramakrishnan (konnakkole)
• Mannargudi M. S. K. Sankaranarayanan (nadhaswaram)
• Denkanikotta Mani (thavil)
• Purisai Arunagiri (devotional music)

Bharatanatyam

• Thanjavur Rajalakshmi
• G. Lakshmi Rajam
• K. S. R. Aniruddha
• Ramya Ramanarayan.

Folk arts

• Thenmozhi Rajendran (karagam)
• S. Sivasankaran Pillai (Oyilattam)

Other arts

• 'Rocket' Ramanathan (mimicry)
• S. Parthasarathi (for spreading art and culture)

2004

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2004.

Actors

• Vikram
• Sneha
• C. R. Saraswathi
• P. Vasu

Mohiniyattam

• Gopika Varma

2005

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2005.

Actors

• Suriya
• Jyothika
• Vadivelu
• Bombay Gnanam

Music

• G. Gnanasambandam
• Silambarasan
• Hariharan
• Anuradha Sriram.

Tamil film historian

• Vamanan

Bharatanatyam

• Leela Samson

2006

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2006.

Actors

• Jayam Ravi
• Navya Nair
• Trisha
• Vishal
• Silambarasan
• Jiiva.

2009

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2009.

Actors

• Vineeth
• Vadivukkarasi
• Asin Thottumkal
• Nayanthara
• Meera Jasmine
• B. Saroja Devi
• Devipriya
• N. Srinivasan

Art director

• P. Krishnamurthy

Dancer

• Aishwarya Dhanush
• Sangeetha Kapilan

Director

• Cheran
• Sundar C

Music

• Embar Kannan
• Harris Jayaraj
• Maharajapuram Srinivasan
• Sivamani
• Thalachangadu T. M. Ramanathan

Writer

• A. Madhavan

Best serial

• Metti Oli

2010

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2010.

Actors

• Anushka Shetty
• Tamannaah Bhatia
• Arya

Music

• Kalyani Menon (singer)
• T. V. Gopalakrishnan (vocal)
• K. N. Shashikiran (vocal)
• Rajhesh vaidhya (veena)
• Tiruvarur Swaminathan (flute)

Tamil scholar

• Tamizhannal

Theatre personality

• Prasanna Ramaswamy

Dramatist

• Dindigul I. Leoni

Spiritual orators

• Mangaiyarkkarasi
• S. Sathyaseelan

2011

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2011.

Actors

• R. Rajashekar
• Kutti Padmini
• P. Rajasekar
• T. Venkatraman
• P. Pandu
• M. S. P. Kalaimani

Tamil literature

• Keezhambur S. Shankarasubramaniyan
• Kovi Manishekaran
• Lena Tamizhvannan
• Dr. Tiruppur Krishnan

Tamil poetry

• C. Ramaswami

Carnatic music

• Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan

Violin

• Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi

Mridangam

• Cherthala R. Ananthakrishnan

Flute

• Prapancham S. Balakrishnan

Nadaswaram

• T. E. Pazhaniswami

Tavil

• Kovilur K. V. Pazhanivel

Harmonium

• Pallatam S. Venkataraman Rao

Sitar

• Janardhan Mitta

Light music

• Abaswaram Ramji

Bharatanatyam

• Radhika Surajit
• Dr. Lakshmi Ramalakshmi

Kuchipudi

• K. Suryashree

Choreography

• Puliyur Roja

Singer

• B. S. Sasirekha

Costume designing

• P. Kasi

Art criticism

• Harikesanallur Venkatraman

Live music performance

• Kunniyur R. Kalyanasundaram

Villupattu

• A. Rajakili

2012

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2012.

Actors

• S. S. Senbagamuthu
• Rajasree
• P. R. Varalakshmi
• N. Mahalingam
• N. S. Parvathy
• S. S. Senbagamuthu

Tamil literature

• Vasuki Kannappan
• Ilakkiyavithi Iniyavan

Orator

• Tamizharuvi M. P. Ramalingam

Journalist

• S. R. Ashok Kumar

Author

• A. Subbulakshmi Ganapathy

Carnatic music

• Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran
• Dr. Mahanathi Shobana Vignesh

Veena

• Mudikondan S. N. Ramesh

Flute

• T. Ravichandramohan

Nadaswaram

• P. V. Thirumoorthy

Percussion

• A. V. Ayyavu

Morsing

• R. M. Deenadayalu

Devotional music

• Udayalur K. Kalyanaraman

Harmonium

• M. U. Premkumar

Harikatha

• Vishaka Hari

Bharatanatyam

• Anita Guha
• Bala Devi Chandrashekar
• Revathy Ramachandran

Bhagavatha Mela

• R. Mahalingam

Gaana songs

• S. Ulaganathan

Director

• Chitra Lakshmanan

Cinematographer

• N. V. Anandakrishnan

Kavadiattam

• N. Sivajirao

Puraviattam

• S. Yogalingam

2013

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2013.

Actors

• Prasanna
• Nalini
• Kanchana
• Sharada
• C. V. Chandramohan
• R. Pandiarajan
• T. P. Gajendran

Tamil literature

• Dr. Bala Ramani

Author

• Dr. T. K. Subramanian

Singer

• R. Krishnaraj

Carnatic music

• Dr. Shuba Ganesan
• Sugantha Kalamegham

Violin

• P. G. Venkatesh

Mohiniattam

• Rashmi Menon

Stunt choreographer

• Judo K. K. Rathnam

Folk singers

• T. Velmurugan
• Paravai Muniyamma

Puppet show

• M. Somasundaram

Sculptor

• Sculptor K. Thirugnanam

2014

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2014.

Actors

• Karthi
• Saravanan
• M. S. Subramanian
• U. M. Kannan
• Thanjai P. K. Selvam
• Ponvannan

Tamil literature

• Aikkan

Author

• Dr. R V Kamalakannan

Tamil poetry

• M. Thirunavakkarasu

Carnatic music

• Meera Nathan
• R Vijayalakshmi
• R Chitra

Flute

• P. V. Balasai

Nadaswaram

• K. S. Senthilkumaran
• Shanthi Senthilkumaran

Bharatanatyam

• Pandanallur S. Pandian

Drama actor and director

• Suresh Krishna

Singer

• Malathi

Choreographer

• N. A. Tara

Cultural promotion

• A. V. Jayaram

Journalist

• News Ananthan

Folk singer

• K. A. Satyabalan

2015

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2015.

Actors

• Prabhu Deva
• Madhu Balaji

Tamil literature

• A. K. P. Kathirvelu

Carnatic music

• Shyamala Venkateswaran
• A. Vadivelan

Violin

• Dr. R. Hemalatha

Mridangam

• Tiruvallur Vaidyanathan

Veena

• Geetha Krishnamurthy

Nadaswaram

• T. P. J. Selvarathnam

Saxophone

• M. Mayilswami

Bharatanatyam

• Sarayusai
• J. Suryanarayanamurthy

Director

• A. N. Pavitran

Music composer

• Vijay Antony

Cinematographer

• R. Rathinavelu

Singer

• Gaana Bala

Villupattu

• Bharathi Thirumagan

Percussion

• S. Andrews

Other

• Sudha

2016

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2016.

Actors

• M. Sasikumar
• M. S. Bhaskar
• Thambi Ramaiah
• Soori
• M. Shanmugam
• Srilekha Rajendran

Tamil literature

• K. N. Kodandam
• Pavalar K. Guhanandam

Carnatic music

• Dr. Nirmala Sundararajan

Harmonium

• S. Chandru

Flute

• P. Vijayagopal

Nadaswaram

• M. K. S. Natarajan

Percussion

• S. Jayachandran

Violin

• Padma Shankar

Bharatanatyam

• Jayanthi Ramachandra
• Rajeswari Sainath

Drama producer

• Sri Hari

Religious discourses

• T. Rajagopalan

Folk singer

• Tarapuram C. Kalarani

Journalist

• Nellai Sundararajan

2017

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2017.

Actor

• Priyamani
• G. Sivan Srinivasan
• K. Nallasivam
• K. R. Singamuthu
• R. S. Jayalatha

Carnatic music

• S. Sowmya
• Dr. Prema Rangarajan
• R. Suryaprakash
• Dr. T. Lokanatha Sharma
• Sriram Parasuram

Ghatam

• H. Sivaramakrishnan

Flute

• A. N. Bhagyalakshmi

Tavil

• T. K. Ranganatha Pattacharyar

Bharanatyam

• Roja Kannan
• Priya Murali

Director

• Hari

Music composer

• Yuvan Shankar Raja

Producer

• Kalaignanam

Photographer

• Seshadri Nathan Sukumaran
• Stills Ravi

Silambattam

• V. Rajaneethi

Karakattam

• T. Thavamani

Thappattam

• P. Raja

Nadaswaram

• C. Samudram

Villupattu

• Sujatha Sivaprasad

Journalist

• Prakash M. Swami

2018

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2011.

Actors

• Srikanth
• S. Varadarajan

Medical journal writer

• Dr. S. Amudhakumar

Tamil poetry

• Isaikkavi Ramanan

Tamil literature

• Dr. K. Ganesan
• Nirmala Periyaswami
• Manavai Ponmanickam

Author

• Professor A. M. James

Carnatic music

• S. J. Jananiy
• Lakshmi Mohan
• Vidya Subramanian
• Shanmukapriya and Haripriya (Priya sisters)
• Rajakumar Bharathi

Violin

• S. Manibharathi

Veena

• Veena M. Raghavan

Nadaswaram

• Thiruppanandhal S. Balasubramaniam
• S. A. Karupayya

Keyboard

• K. Satyanarayanan

Light music

• Thanjai V. Rajan

Bharatanatyam

• Padmalakshmi Suresh
• Nandini Ramani
• Lavanya Shankar
• Niveditha Parthasarathy
• Binesh Mahadevan
• Dr. Latha Rajendran
• P. Muralidharan

Producer

• A. M. Rathnam

Cinematographer

• Ravi Varman

Singer

• Unnimenon

Leather puppeteer

• A. Muthulakshmanrao
• P. Muthuchandran

Percussion

• K. Kumaravel

2019

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2019.

Actors

• Yogi Babu
• Devadarshini
• Nandhakumar
• Shanthi Williams

Director

• Liaquat Ali Khan

Producer

• Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Music director

• Dhina

Dialogue writer

Camera man

• Ragunaatha Reddy

Editor

• Anthony

Choreographer

• K. Sivasankar

Stunt director

• Thalapathy Dinesh

Lyricist

• Kamakodiyan

Singers

• Sujatha Mohan
• Ananthu

Pianist

• Anil Srinivasan

Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Special Kalaimamani Award

• P. Susheela

Carnatic Music

• K. Krishnakumar
• Binni Krishnakumar

Bharatanatayam

• Madurai R. Muralidaran

Costumer

• Rajendran

Makeup man

• Shanmugam

Other

• Singaaravelu

2020

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2020.

Actors

• Sivakarthikeyan
• Aishwarya Rajesh
• Jangiri Madhumitha

Director

• Gautham Vasudev Menon

Shehnai Players & Hindustani Musicians & Playback Singers

• Pandit Dr S Ballesh Bhajantri and
• Dr Krishna Ballesh Bhajantri

Producer

• Ishari K. Ganesh

Music Director

• D. Imman

Lyricist

• Kahalmadhi

Carnatic Music

• Ranjani Gayatri

Makeup man

• Sabarigirisan

Journalist

• Sabitha Joseph

Religious discourse

• Tiruchi K. Kalyanaraman

Writer

• Thamarai S. Senthurpandi
• M. S. Perumaal

Author

• Panapakkam K. Sukumar

Debater

• Arasu P. Parameswaran

Vocalist

• Rathnakumari K. Kalyanasundaram
• Ranjani–Gayatri
• S. V. Usha

Ghatam

• S. Karthik

Harmonium

• V. John Mohan

Mridangam

• Thanjavur Murugaboopathi
• Sairam Sundaram
• T. R. Sundaresan
• Ramesh Srinivasan

Nadaswaram

• Vaduvur S. N. R. Krishnamoorthy

Thavil

• Thiruppanandal S. Marimuthu

Keyboard

• M. S. Martin

Tevaram narrator

• P. Shanmugasundara Desikar

Saxophone

• A. G. Govindarasu

Vainika

• Nirmala Rajasekar
• Jayalakshmi Sekhar

Performers

• Mangalam Natarajan
• J. Pazhani
• Poovai Mani

Bharatanatyam

• A. Janarthanan
• Kavitha Charles
• Sreelatha Vinod
• S. Vijayalakshmi Bhoopathi
• Aparna Ramesh

Terukkuttu

• T. Kanniyappan

Kaniyan koothu

• V. Muthu Perumal

2021

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2021 and announced in September 2025.

Art Director

• M. Jayakumar

Actors

• Sai Pallavi
• S. J. Surya

Music Composer

• Anirudh Ravichander

2023

Singer

• Shweta Mohan

References

External links