The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

, 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

:Film Personalities: Padmini

1962

:Film Personalities:

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

1968

:Film Personalities:

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

:Music: Sangeetha Kalanidhi Late K.S.Narayanaswamy (Vainika)

1969

:Film Personalities: Sowcar Janaki

1970

Music: M. S. Viswanathan (Composer)

1971

:Music: Madras A. Kannan, classical music (mridangam)

1972

:Film Personalities: J. Jayalalithaa :Music: P. K Subbaiyar

1977

:Film Personalities: Srividya

1979

:Film Personalities:

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wi ...

:Music:

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhe ...

1980

:Film Personalities: Kamal Haasan, Sripriya :Music:

Thanjavur R. Ramamoorthy Tanjavur R. Ramamoorthy (தஞ்சாவூர் ர.ராமமூர்த்தி) (15 June 1929 - 22 June 2019) was a vidwan in Indian classical music, playing Carnatic music on the mridangam, an ancient Indian percussion instrumen ...

(Mirudhangam)

1981

:Music: Madurai N. Krishnan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

1983

:Film Personalities: P. Bhanumathi

1984

:Film Personalities: Rajinikanth :Theater: Sabhapati Srinivas

1986

:Music:

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

, S. Janaki

1991

:Film Personalities: Sukumari : :Music
P Leela

1993

:Film Personalities: Revathi

1994

In the 1994, 51 artistes were given Kalaimamani awards. :Film Personalities: R. Sarathkumar,

Sukanya Sukanya ( sa, सुकन्या, lit=wonderful virgin, translit=Sukanyā) is a princess In Hindu mythology. She is the daughter of Sharyati, the son of Vaivasvata Manu, and the wife of the sage Chyavana. Legend Marriage According to ...

S. Ve. Shekher Sattanathapuram Venkataraman Shekher (born 26 December 1950) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, politician and a playwright of Tamil-language plays. In 2006, he was elected as an MLA for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIA ...

(stage artiste), Kathadi Ramamurthy (stage artiste),

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nat ...

(character actor), T. P. Samikannu (stage comedian),

R. V. Udayakumar R. V. Udayakumar is an Indian film director and lyricist who worked predominantly in the Tamil film industry throughout the 1990s, making films including ''Yejaman'' and '' Chinna Gounder''. He has also directed some Telugu films. Early life ...

:Music:

D. K. Pattammal Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal () (19 March 1919 – 16 July 2009), popularly known as D. K. Pattammal or DKP, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer for film songs in Tamil. Pattammal, along with her contemporaries M. S. Subbulakshm ...

(Carnatic lyricist), Sudha Ragunathan (Carnatic vocalist), Swarnalatha (playback singer) :Other: L. S. Ramamirtham (Tamil literature), Malavika Charukkai (Bharatanatyam), P. Ganammal (harmonium), T. G. Subramaniam (thavil), Sundararaj naidu (karagam artiste)

1995

:Music: A. R. Rahman

1997

:Music: P. Jayachandran :

KS Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various I ...

1998

:Film Personalities: Palani Bharathi, Prashanth Thiagarajan, Meena, Vijay, Napoleon, Thangar Bachan, Palani Bharathi :Music: Thavil vidwan Idumbavanam K.S. Kannan (Musician) :Bharatnatyam: Priyadarshini Govind

1999

:Bharatanatyam: Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala (Artist) :Film Writer: Piraisudan (Writer)

2000

:Music: Nithyasree Mahadevan, Swarnalatha, Girija Ramaswamy (devotional singing for dance). :Acting: Ajith Kumar, Devayani

2001

:Literature: M.R. Gurusamy (Vriddachalam) :Music: Shashank Subramanyam, Vairamangalam Lakshmi Naryanan, Chennai; Manakkal S. Rangarajan, Chennai; M.A.Sundareswaran (violin), Madurai T.Srinivasan (mridangam), T.M.Krishnamurthy (mridangam), R.Kalyanaraman (ghatam), Rajalakshmi Narayanan (veena), Seetha Duraiswamy (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 and Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari, Nellai D.Kannan, T.K.Padmanabhan, C.R.Radha Badhri. :Drama: Radhu S.Radhakrishnan, T.K.S.Karuppaiah, 'Periyar' Rajavelu, V.Brinda. :Cinema:

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

, Murali, Rekha, Gundu Kalyanam, T.K.Pugazhendi, A. P. Komala. :Folk Arts: A. Gunavathi (karagam), V. Dakshinamurthy (street play). :Artistes receiving cash assistance: A. P. Srinivasan (musical-dance), G. Paramasiva Rao (folk), V. K. R. Ramani (drama).

2002

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 Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Se ...

, C.V.Chandrasekhar; Mannargudi N.Sakthivadivel, C.P.Venkatesan, Yogam Santhanam, Melattur S.Kumar. Drama: K.G. `Typist' Gopu, Kovai Anuradha, K.S.Krishnan and Koothapiran. Cinema: Vijayashanti, Vinu Chakravarthy, Goundamani, Senthil, S.M.S.Vasanth. Folk Arts: Sarangapani (karagam), P.A.Subbulakshmi Palaamadai (villupattu). Artistes receiving cash assistance: V.S.Azhagesan (musical play), T.P.Chellappa (musical play) and S.Leelavathi (drama).

2003

Music: Sulochana Pattabhiraman (vocal), Nagai R.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. Drama: Nanjil P.T.Sami, K.R.Rathinam. Cinema:

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of severa ...

, Simran, Kanaka, Vivek, L.Vaidyanathan, Gajapathy. Musical dance: S.Soundappan Folk Arts: Thenmozhi Rajendran (karagam), S.Sivasankaran Pillai (Oyilattam). Other arts: `Rocket' Ramanathan (mimicry), S.Parthasarathi (for spreading art and culture). Artistes receiving cash assistance: S.P.Anthonysamy (kaliayalattam), A.S.Balasubramaniam (puppetry) and Pavalar Om Muthumari (street play) The Tamil Isai Sangam, Madurai, will receive the shield for the best cultural forum and the Cauvery Annai Kalai Mandram, Thanjavur, for the best drama troupe. The portraits of the following late artistes of yesteryear to be unveiled: `Sivaji' Ganesan, T.V.Narayanasamy (drama artiste), M.P.N.Sethuraman (nadhaswaram), C.S.Murugabhoopathy (mridangam), K.V.Mahadevan (music composer), S.V.Venkataraman (music composer), P.S.Veerappa (film actor), Mani Krishnaswamy (vocalist), A.S.Gnanasambandan (litterateur), Kothamangalam Seenu (musical drama), K.T.Santhanam (lyricist), Pandari Bai (actress), Varadaiah (veena), C.T.Rajagandham (actress), D.R.Ramanna (film producer), Devika (actress), S.V.Ranga Rao (actor), J.P.Chandra Babu (actor).

2004

*Iyal (Literature): 4 artists and Tamil scholars *Musicians: 26 *Bharatanatyam exponents: 10 *Stage artists: 4, including

Crazy Mohan Mohan Rangachari (16 October 1952 – 10 June 2019) known professionally as Crazy Mohan, was an Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing plays and established his own drama troupe calle ...

*Film Personalities: 10, including Vikram,

Sneha Sneha ( hi, स्नेहा) is a popular Hindu Indian feminine given name, which means "Affection". Notable people named Sneha *Sneha (actress) (born 1981), Indian actress in South Indian films - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languag ...

, C. R. Saraswathi and P. Vasu *Singers: 5 Ballad and 4 singers * Mohiniyattam:

Gopika Varma Gopika Varma is a Kerala born Mohiniyattam dancer and dance teacher who is settled in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She received several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award and Kalaimamani. Biography ...

. She is the first Mohiniyattam dancer to receive this award.

2005

Tamil Film Historian Vamanan, Bharatanatyam exponent Leela Samson, stage artist Bombay Gnanam, film personalities

Surya Sivakumar Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a Philanthropy, philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He re ...

, Jyothika,

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the ...

, Eyal -

G. Gnanasambandam Dr G Gnanasambandam (''Gurunathan Gnanasambandham''; born 19 October 1955) also known as G Gnanasambandam, is an Indian professor, Tamil scholar, orator and an actor who appears in Tamil films. He frequently chairs Tamil debate shows (Pattimand ...

, Silambarasan, Hariharan and

Anuradha Sriram Anuradha Sriram (born 9 July 1970) is an Indian carnatic and playback singer and child actress who hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She has sung more than 700 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Sinhala, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi ...

2006

This year there were a few film personalities awarded with Kalaimamani and out of those were Jayam Ravi,

Navya Nair Navya Nair is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam films, along with others in Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of ...

, Trisha,

Vishal Vishal may refer to: People * Vishal (name), a common Indian given name * King Vishal, emperor of the Mahabharata era who founded the ancient city of Vishalapura * Vishal (actor) (born 1977), Indian film actor, producer and anti-piracy activi ...

, Silambarasan and Jiiva.

2009

Artists who won Kalamamani is listed below *Actor: Ajith Kumar, Vineeth, Vadivukkarasi *Actress: Asin Thottumkal, Nayanthara, Meera Jasmine, B. Saroja Devi *Art Director: P. Krishnamurthy *Dancer:

Aishwarya Dhanush Aishwarya Rajinikanth (born 1 January 1982) is an Indian film director and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. She is the elder daughter of actor Rajinikanth and wife of actor Dhanush. She made her feature film directorial debut with '' ...

, Sangeetha Kapilan *Director: Cheran, Sundar C *Musician: Embar Kannan,

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with ...

, Maharajapuram Srinivasan, Sivamani, Thavil Kalaingar Thalachangadu T. M. Ramanathan *Writer: A. Madhavan *Serial Artist: Devipriya *Artist:

N.Srinivasan N. Srinivasan (born 29 January 2013) is an India, Indian digital artist in the fields of art and architecture. He uses technology and traditional subject matter for most of his artwork. Early life Srinivasan was born on 24 January 1972 in th ...

*Best Serial : Metti Oli

2010

The winners are listed below In the 2010, 26 artistes were given Kalaimamani awards. They include actors Anushka Shetty, Mrs.Sujatha Peer Mohamed (Barathanatiyam Dancer), Tamannaah and Arya, Carnatic vocalist Gayathri Girish, Carnatic Vocalist K.N. Shashikiran, Nathaswara Vidhvan Thirukkadaiyur T.S.Muralitharan, Veena players Rajhesh Vaidhya and S. Srinivasan, dramatist Prasanna Ramaswamy, spiritual orators Desa Mangaiyarkkarasi and S Sathyaseelan, and Tamil scholar Tamizhannal and

Dindigul I. Leoni Dindigul I. Leoni also known as Dindigul Leoni or simply known as Leoni ( ta , திண்டுக்கல் ஐ. லியோனி) (born 22 November 1954) is a pattimandram anchor, social debates anchor, school teacher, orator, actor, te ...

, Flautist Tiruvarur S. Swaminathan, Singer Kalyani Menon.

2011

:Film Personalities: R Rajasekar, P. Rajiv alias P Rajasekar, Kutti Padmini, P.R. Varalakshmi, P Pandu, Choreographer Puliyur Saroja :Playback Singer: B.S Sasirekha :Costume Designer: P Kasi :Bharatanatyam Dancer: Shobana

2012

Actors: S S Senbagamuthu, Rajasree, P. R. Varalakshmi Playback Singer: Gana Ulaganathan Director: Chitra Lakshmanan Cinematographer: Babu alias N V Anandakrishnan Bharatanatyam dancer : Bala Devi Chandrashekar

2013

Actors: Prasanna,

Nalini Nalini (Devanagari: नलिनी) is a female gender Indian given name, which means "lotus", "goddess Gayatri","mother of Vedas", "sweet nectar", "Amrit", Feminine "lily" in Sanskrit.''Baby Names''"Nalini" Retrieved on 9 January 2016. The name ...

, R Pandiyarajan, Kanchana, Sharada, T P Gajendran, stunt master Judo K K Rathnam Playback singer: R Krishnaraj, Paravai Muniyamma, T Velmurugan

2014

Actors: Ponvannan Director: Suresh Krishna Playback singer: Malathi Choreographer: NA Thara Nadhaswaram Tiruvannamalai K.S.Senthil Murugan Nadhaswaram Tiruvannamalai S.Shanthi Senthil Murugan

2015

:Film Personalities: Madhu Balaji, Prabhu Deva Director: A N Pavithran Music director: Vijay Antony Lyricist: Yugabharathi, cinematographer R Rathinavelu Playback singer: Gana Bala

2016

Actors: M. Sasikumar,

M. S. Bhaskar Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar (born 13 September 1957) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films. Before entering the film industry, he was a theatre artist, he made his film debut in 1987 in a small role in the film ''Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi' ...

Thambi Ramaiah Thambi Ramaiah is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works in the Tamil film industry. He has also worked occasionally as a lyricist. He directed three films, ''Manu Needhi'' (2000), ''Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'' (2008) and ''Maniyaa ...

, Soori, Srilekha Rajendran

2017

Actors: Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Singamuthu Director: Harish Music director: Yuvan Shankar Raja Producer: Kalaignanam Folk Dancer: T.Thavamani (Karagattam) Photography: Seshadri Nathan Sugumaran, Ravi

2018

:Film Personalities:

Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name. * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965 * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002 * Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu acto ...

, Santhanam Producer: A. M. Rathnam Cinematographer: Ravi Varman Playback singer:

Unni Menon Unni Menon (born 2 December 1955) is an Indian film playback singer. He has recorded over 4000 songs in many Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.S.S.KavutaA melodious journey The Hindu. Retrieved 29 November 2008 ...

Keyboard: K. Sathyanarayana Music:

S. J. Jananiy Subramanian Jaya Jananiy, also known as Cuddalore Janani and S. J. Janani, is an Indian Composer, Musician, Singer-Songwriter, Classical Vocalist, Playback Singer, multi-instrumentalist and Flim Score composer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

(Multifaceted Musician)

2019 and 2020

Actors: Sivakarthikeyan, Yogi Babu, Sangeetha Krish, Aishwarya Rajesh, Jangiri Madhumitha, Devadarshini, Nandhakumar, Shanthi Williams, Nithya Directors: Gautham Vasudev Menon, Manoj Kumar, Liaquat Ali Khan, Ravi Mariya Producers: Ishari K. Ganesh and Kalaipuli S. Thanu Music Directors: D. Imman, Dhina Dialogue Writer: V. Prabhakar Camera Man: Ragunaatha Reddy Editor: Anthony Choreographers: Master Sivasankar, Master Sridhar Stunt Directors: Thalapathy Dinesh and Jaguar Thangam Hindustani Music Artists: Shehnai Artists Pandit Dr

S. Ballesh Pandit Dr. S. Ballesh, born Ballappa Sanna Bharamappa Bhajantri, is an Indian classical Hindustani shehnai player. One of the most well-known disciples of shehnai player Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan, he is an expert in Benares gharana s ...

and Dr Krishna Ballesh (Joint Award) Lyricists: Kamakodiyan and Kahalmadhi Playback Singers: Sujatha and Ananthu Pianist : Anil Srinivasan Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Special Kalaimamani Award:

P.Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

Carnatic Music: Ranjani Gayatri, Krishnakumar and Binni Krishnakumar Bharatanatayam Dance Guru or Teacher: Madurai R. Muralidaran Costumer: Rajendran Makeup Men: Shanmugam and Sabarigirisan Still Photographer: Sitrarasu Journalist: Sabitha Joseph Pro: Singaaravelu

References

External links

* {{- . Indian art awards Indian literary awards Indian music awards Indian theatre awards Tamil film awards Tamil Nadu awards Tamil culture Kalaimamani Award Kalaimamani Award Awards established in 1954 1954 establishments in Madras State