# Kalaimamani

The Kalaimamani 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
### 1958–59
#### Actor

* Padmini

### 1962–63
#### Actor

* Sivaji Ganesan

### 1968–69

The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 1968–69.

#### 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 Charukkai (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

### 1998
#### Actors

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

#### Music

* Idumbavanam K.S. Kannan

#### Bharatnatyam

* Priyadarshini 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 C. 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 Chandrasekhar
* 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
* Rajeshwari 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

#### 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 Mridangam

#### 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