Arts & Performance

Kalaimamani Awards Explained: Who Gives Them and How

Tamil Nadu's Kalaimamani award covers film, music, dance, theatre, literature and folk arts. Who confers it, what winners receive and how the lists have come out.

19 October 2026

Chennai FalconMr. Parthasarathy aka Chennai Falcon is passionate about…

Updated 2026-10-29, 2:05 AM

The Kalaimamani is the Tamil Nadu government’s state-level award for artistes, conferred by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, a body under the state Department of Art and Culture. According to the department’s policy note for 2024-25, 1,924 artistes had received it by then.

The most recent round, announced on 24 September 2025, honoured 90 artistes for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 in one go, according to The News Minute. That pattern of batching several years together is typical of how the award works, and it explains why the lists often feel irregular.

Who gives the award

The Eyal Isai Nataka Manram (Iyal for literature, Isai for music, Nadagam for drama) was set up by the state government in 1955 as the Tamil Nadu Sangeet Nataka Sangam and took its present name in 1973, according to the department’s RTI disclosure of May 2024. Its job is to carry out the state-level aims of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and to support traditional Tamil arts.

The Manram sits under the Department of Art and Culture, which was formed in December 1991. The awards are announced by the state government, and the Chief Minister usually presents them at a function in Chennai.

What winners receive

The department’s awards page describes the Kalaimamani as recognition for artistes who have given long service to the arts. The award itself is a gold medal and a citation, but sources differ on its weight.

The 2024-25 policy note and the RTI disclosure both say five sovereigns (40 grams).
When the 2011 to 2018 awards were given out in August 2019, the medal was raised from three to five sovereigns after artistes appealed, The News Minute reported.
Reports of the September 2025 announcement described a three-sovereign medal.

If the exact weight matters to you, the Manram is the place to ask. The award also opens a door to welfare support: the department says indigent Kalaimamani awardees can receive a one-time Porkizhi cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

The three all-India awards

Alongside the state award, the Manram gives three national-level honours of Rs 1 lakh each, named after poet Subramania Bharathi (literature), M.S. Subbulakshmi (music) and T. Balasaraswathi (dance). In 2025 they went to N. Murugesa Pandian, K.J. Yesudas and R. Muthukannammal respectively. The same round gave Rs 1 lakh and a shield each to Tamil Isai Sangam, Chennai, as best cultural organisation, and to a Madurai drama troupe as best theatre group.

A separate award, the Kalaichemmal, is for painters and sculptors. The policy note says six artistes a year receive Rs 1 lakh each, a plaque and a certificate; 33 traditional and 64 contemporary artists had received it so far.

Which fields are covered

The Kalaimamani is not only a film award, even though film names dominate the headlines. Recent lists have spanned cinema, television, literature, Carnatic music, nagaswaram and thavil, Bharatanatyam, theatre and folk forms. The 2025 round included poet Nellai Jayantha, mridangam artist Trichy S. Narendra, thavil artist Thiruvallikeni K. Sekar and dancer Priya Karthikeyan alongside actors such as Sai Pallavi and S.J. Suryah and composer Anirudh Ravichander.

The scale has varied a lot. The 2019 round, covering eight years after a long gap, named 201 recipients drawn from 72 art forms. That list also drew a complaint from parai artistes, who said their form had been left out; a former member secretary of the Manram called it a mistake that should be corrected, according to The News Minute.

How winners are chosen

The department’s public pages do not set out a detailed selection procedure, a points system or the names of a selection committee for the Kalaimamani. What is clear from the record is that the state government announces the list, often for several years at once, and the awards are then presented at a single ceremony. The 2021 to 2023 awards were announced in September 2025 and presented in October 2025, according to News Arena India.

For artistes hoping to be considered, the practical route is to contact the Manram directly and ask whether nominations or applications are being invited for a given year. We could not find any announcement of awards for 2024 or 2025 as of 18 October 2026, after the change of government in May.

Quick answers

Is the Kalaimamani a central government award?

No. It is a Tamil Nadu state award, conferred by the Eyal Isai Nataka Manram under the state Department of Art and Culture.

How much is the Kalaimamani worth?

It carries a gold medal and a citation, not a cash prize. Official documents say five sovereigns; some 2025 reports said three.

When were the last Kalaimamani awards given?

The awards for 2021, 2022 and 2023 were announced on 24 September 2025 and presented in October 2025.

Can folk artistes receive it?

Yes. Folk forms have been among the categories, and the 2019 list drew from 72 art forms in total.

Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.