The Raghupathi Venkaiah Award is an award given by the Indian state government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise lifetime achievements in Telugu cinema. The award was introduced in 1981 in honour of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, one of India's film pioneers, who is considered the "father of Telugu cinema". The winner is presented a Golden Nandi (named after a bull in Hindu mythology), a gold medal, a citation and a cash prize of at the Nandi Awards ceremony.