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 Savitri (actress) 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 Meena C. Joseph Vijay Napoleon Thankar Bachan Palani Bharathi Music Idumbavanam K.S. Kannan Bharatnatyam Priyadarsini Govind
1999 Bharatanatyam Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala Writer Piraisudan Piraisoodan
2000 Actors Ajith Kumar Devayani Music Nithyasree Mahadevan Swarnalatha Girija Ramaswamy
2001 Actors Vijayakanth Murali Rekha Harris 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 Vijaya Shanthi 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. Gnanasambandan 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 Ravi Mohan Navya Nair Trisha Krishnan Vishal Silambarasan Jiiva
2009 The individuals listed below were recipients of the Kalaimamani for the year 2009.
Actors Vineeth Vadivukkarasi Asin 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 Sarada (actress) C. V. Chandramohan 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