Kalaimamani
Awarded for	Best in the arts
Presented by	Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram
Country	India
First awarded	1954

The Kalaimamani is an award in Tamil Nadu state, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram (literature, music and theatre) for excellence in the field of art and literature.

The awardees are felicitated by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State, every year, at a ceremony.

The Tamil Nadu government has appointed poet Ilaya Bharathi as the secretary of Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram. Film director Rama Narayanan is its president.^[1]

Awardees by year[link]

1994[link]

Music: Swarnalatha

1997 K. S. Chithra

1998[link]

Film Personalities: Meena, Vijay, Napolean, Thangar Bachan, Prashanth Thyagarajan

2001[link]

Music : Vairamangalam Lakshmi Narayanan, Manakkal S. Rangarajan, M. A. Sundareswaran, Madurai T. Srinivasan, T. M. Krishnamurthy, R. Kalyanaraman, Rajalakshmi Narayanan, S. Sashank, Seetha Doraiswamy, Adyar S. Jayaraman, Thirunageswaram T. R. Govindarajan, Valayapatti S. Malarvannan, P. V. N. Nadhamani, K. Somu, Karandhai G. Damodaran, Rathinasabapathy Desikar.

2002[link]

Music: P. S. Narayanaswamy, Meera Sivaramakrishnan, Ramani, Vaikkom R. Gopalakrishnan, S. Venkataraman, T. S. Vasudeva Rao, A. C. Jayaraman, S. Kasim, Kovai Natarajan, S. Sundar.

2003[link]

Music: Sulochana Pattabhiraman, Nagai R. Muralidharan, S. Ravindaran, Mannargudi A. Eswaran, R. Raman, H. Ramakrishnan, Mannargudi M. S. K. Sankaranarayanan, Denkanikotta Mani, Purisai Arunagiri.

2004[link]

^[2] Iyal (Literature): 4 artists and Tamil scholars
Musicians: 26
Bharatanatyam exponents: 10
Stage artists: 4, including Crazy Mohan
Film Personalities: 10, including Vikram, Sneha, C.R. Saraswathi and P. Vasu
Singers: 5 Ballad and 4 singers

2005[link]

Bharatanatyam exponent Leela Samson, stage artist Bombay Gnanam, film personalities Surya Sivakumar, Jyothika, Vadivelu, Hariharan and Anuradha Sriram.^[3]

2006[link]

This year there were a few film personalities awarded with Kalaimamani and out of those was Silambarasan Rajendar and Trisha Krishnan

2009[link]

2010[link]

26 artistes will get Kalaimamani awards for year 2010. They include actors nayanthara, Tamanna, Anushka and Arya, Carnatic vocalist Gayathri Girish, Veena players Rajhesh Vaidhya and S.Srinivasan, dramatist Prasanna Ramaswamy, spiritual orators Mangaiyarkkarasi and S Sathyaseelan, and Tamil scholar Tamizhannal and Dindigul I. Leoni.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Hindu article
• Times of India article
• http://archives.chennaionline.com/musicnew/CarnaticMusic/180th.asp

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Avasarala Kanyakumari is a renowned female Carnatic music violinist from South India.

Profile[link]

Kanyakumari is a native of Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh and has been living in Chennai for more than 4 decades.She belongs to a family of musicians.Her parents Sri Avasarala Ramarathnam and Smt.Jayalakshmi encouraged her immensely to pursue music. She was fortunate to be a sishya (disciple) of 3 great legendary gurus, Ivaturi Vijeswara Rao, M. Chandrasekaran and M. L. Vasanthakumari.

Listening to her sparkling brighas and intricate sangatis while she had just started to tread her musical journey, the respected music critic Subbudu compared her music to the ever glittering diamond stud in the nose ring of the goddess Kanyakumari. Ever since she has received innumerable accolades and praise from audiences worldwide and discerning critics for her innovation, accompaniment and solo performances while at the same time strictly adhering to the Carnatic music tradition. Needless to say it is her dedication and sincere hardwork along with the able guidance of her gurus Ivaturi Vijeshwara Rao, M. Chandrasekharan and M. L. Vasanthakumari which have groomed her into a front ranking violinist. Her extensive experience spanning more than 4 decades combined with a sharp acumen and fine sense of creativity has earned her a distinct place.She has evolved her own style of melodious playing and silken bowing which closely resembles vocal music rhapsodising audiences all over.

Innovations and Challenging Feats She has many successful creative innovations to her credit. "Vadya Lahari" her brain child is a new combo of the violin, veena and Nadaswaram. "Tristhayi sangamam" Confluence of 3 violins playing in different octaves portraying a special dimension. "Carnatic Music Ensembles" of 25, 50, 75 and 100 violins as well as 100 instrument ensemble commemorating the millennium A music piece "100 ragamalika swarams" which exposes her dexterity in bringing out the raga swaroopam in just one avarthana each. 29 hours non stop marathon performance

She has dedicated her life to music and is grateful to the Almighty, gurus, parents, students, sabhas, critics and rasikas for their continued support.

Awards and honours[link]

Many prestigious awards and titles have been bestowed uon her.Some of them include

• Kalaimamani from Govt. of Tamil Nadu
• Ugadi Puraskarfrom Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
• Top Rank by A.I.R
• Honorary citizenship of the state of Maryland,U.S
• TTK Award from the Music Academy,Chennai
• Asthana Viidushi of Sringeri Sarada Peetam,Ahobila Mutt and Avadhoota Peetam
• "Saptagiri sangeetha vidwanmani from Sri Tyagaraja Festival Committee if Tirupathi.
• Dhanurveena Praveena, a title bestowed on her by M.S. Subbulakshmi, commemorating Kanyakumari's 25 years in concerts
• Sangeeta Kala Nipuna, from the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, 2002 ^[1]
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2003

She was selected for Limca Book of Records 2004 for her various achievements in music as a versatile woman violinist.

Teaching[link]

She is a dedicated teacher and has taught numerous students in India and abroad, many of whom are very popular artists. She teaches without a price tag and generously encourages students to participate in full measure. She has also released Violin Lessons Tutorial VCD's for students who do not have access to learn directly from a guru.

References[link]

External links[link]

akanyakumari.com