Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Pannerselvam and Opposition leader M. K. Stalin on Friday congratulated legendary composer Ilayaraja, archaeologist Ramachandran Nagaswamy and four others named for the prestigious Padma awards.
While Ilayaraja was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in the country, Ramachandran Nagaswamy was conferred the Padma Bhushan and yoga expert V. Nanammal, folk singer Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan, engineer Rajagopal Vasudevan and wildlife conservationist Romulus Whitaker were named for Padma Shri awards.
In a statement on Friday, Palaniswami heaped praise on Ilayaraja, saying he has scored music for films in various languages including Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. Further, Ilayaraja had 'expertise' in folk, Carnatic and Western forms of music, Palaniswami said in a statement.
"I proudly extend my hearty greetings (to Ilayaraja) for receiving Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest (civilian) award," he said.
Palaniswami also lauded other Padma awardees, while Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam took to Twitter to laud the services rendered by the awardees to society. In separate statement DMK working president M. K. Stalin also congratulated the Padma awardees saying they have brought laurels both to the nation and to the state.
