In a glittering ceremony at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 25, the President conferred the Padma Awards for 2026 on personalities chosen for their excellence in their respective fields. Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, other Cabinet Ministers and dignitaries were in attendance.
For 2026, the President approved 131 Padma Awards, including one Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards. They are announced every year on Republic Day.
The President presented the Padma Vibhushan to violinist N. Rajam. S. K. M. Maeilanandhan (Social Work) from Tamil Nadu also received the Padma Bhushan. Others chosen for the award included tennis personality Vijay Amritraj (USA), who has roots in Tamil Nadu.
Gastroenterologist Dr Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy was conferred the Padma Bhushan.
Among them, from Tamil Nadu, nonagenarian veteran politician and former Health Minister Dr H. V. Hande (Medicine), N. Swaminathan (Art), Dr R. Sreedhar (Others – Radio Broadcasting), R. V. S. Mani (Civil Service), Tamil writer Sivasankari (Literature and Education), former CRPF Director General and retired IPS officer K. Vijay Kumar (Civil Service), traditional martial art exponent and Silambam master K. Pajanivel (Silambam), and the family members of R. Krishnan (Art, posthumous) were conferred the Padma Shri awards.
Profiles
Violinist N. Rajam: Renowned Indian classical violinist celebrated for popularising the “singing violin” technique and training generations of musicians. She pioneered a revolutionary approach to classical music by introducing the “Gayaki Ang” technique, which enables the violin to emulate the human voice, earning her global recognition as the “Singing Violin”.
Dr H. V. Hande: Dr H. V. Hande (Dr H. Venkataramana Hande) is a 99-year-old veteran physician and former Health Minister of Tamil Nadu. He served as the Minister of Health for Tamil Nadu (1980–1986) in the M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) Cabinet. His health policies revolutionised primary healthcare in the State. Under his leadership, India’s first HIV/AIDS case was officially reported and investigated at CMC Vellore in 1986.
He is the recipient of the prestigious Dr B. C. Roy Award in 1985 by the Medical Council of India for excellence in public service as Health Minister. A senior politician, he was active in the Swatantra Party before joining the AIADMK and later the BJP. Besides his medical profession, Dr Hande has authored works on Dr B. R. Ambedkar and is known for translating the timeless Kamba Ramayanam and several other books.
K. Pajanivel, Silambam master: He is a renowned Silambam master and dedicated promoter of India’s ancient martial arts tradition. He was chosen for the Padma Shri for his exceptional contribution to preserving and popularising indigenous martial arts and folk culture. Hailing from Puducherry, he has devoted over three decades to training thousands of students in Silambam and other traditional martial and folk art forms, while actively promoting Tamil Nadu’s 5,000-year-old weapon-based martial art across India and internationally. Through free training camps, cultural programmes and grassroots mentorship, he has played a vital role in keeping India’s rich martial heritage alive for future generations.
K. Pajanivel, renowned Silambam master and dedicated promoter of India’s ancient martial arts tradition, will be honoured with the Padma Shri for his exceptional contribution to preserving and popularising indigenous martial arts and folk culture.
Hailing from Puducherry, he has… pic.twitter.com/AZraEFrPhz
— PIB – Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 19, 2026
N. Swaminathan: Eminent artist and head of the Thevara Padasalai of Dharumapuram Aadheenam, he was honoured with the Padma Shri for his exceptional contribution to Tamil Pann Isai, traditional Thirumurai hymns, and the preservation of ancient musical traditions. Celebrated as a supreme artist and an ‘A’ Grade All India Radio performer with an artistic journey spanning over 55 years, he has dedicated his life to carrying Tamil devotional music to audiences across the world and has released over 100 albums. He is deeply revered for preserving oral traditions and training generations of students in the art of Thirumurai Isai at the grassroots level.
Dr R. Sreedhar (Others – Radio Broadcasting): He was chosen for this award for transforming science communication in India. As one of All India Radio’s first science reporters, he pioneered interactive, people-centric radio. He created Manav Kavikas, one of the world’s longest-running science series for children, and launched India’s first community radio station in 2004, giving a platform “by the people, for the people”. Today, community radio has grown to more than 550 locations, especially in rural India, reflecting his lasting impact on grassroots communication.
Sivasankari (Writer): Chosen in the field of Literature and Education, Sivasankari is a distinguished Indian writer renowned for her profound awareness of social issues, exceptional sensitivity to human suffering and unwavering commitment to stimulating thoughtful reflection among readers. Over five decades of sustained literary contribution, she has emerged as a powerful voice of social conscience and occupies a prominent place among the most respected and influential writers of her generation. Her writings are noted for their depth of research, social relevance and humanistic perspective.
K. Vijay Kumar: He is a highly decorated 1975-batch IPS officer (Tamil Nadu cadre), awarded the Padma Shri for his outstanding contributions to public affairs, internal security and counter-terrorism. Best known for leading the 2004 operation that neutralised forest brigand Veerappan, he has served as Director General of the CRPF and Senior Security Adviser to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He is widely recognised for leading the operation that resulted in the death of forest brigand Veerappan in 2004. His distinguished service spans over three decades, during which he held several high-profile positions, including Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Commissioner of Police, Chennai, and Inspector General of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Kashmir during a critical phase of insurgency.
Earlier in his career, he served in the Special Protection Group (SPG), providing close protection to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and later helped form the Special Security Group (SSG) for the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
After his retirement, he continued to serve the country as Senior Security Adviser to the Ministry of Home Affairs, focusing on Left Wing Extremism. He was also appointed Adviser to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, overseeing critical portfolios. He is the author of Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand, a detailed account of one of India’s most significant police operations.
Dr Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy: Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy is an Indian gastroenterologist, medical academic, writer and senior consultant at a leading private hospital. He is a former President (2004–05) of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology and a patron of its Tamil Nadu chapter. After graduating in medicine from JJM Medical College, Davangere, in 1972, he continued his studies, securing an MD in General Medicine in 1977 and a DM in Gastroenterology in 1981, while simultaneously serving as a faculty member. In 1986, while working as an Assistant Professor, he was deputed to Stanley Medical College, Chennai, as Professor, where he established the Department of Gastroenterology. Palaniswamy has written several articles on gastroenterology and served as a member of the Academic Boards of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences from 1986 to 1996 and Tamil Nadu Dr M. G. R. Medical University in 1997. He was also a member of the Indian delegation for academic exchange programmes to Germany in 1986 and the USSR in 1987.
R. Krishnan (Art): The Padma Shri was conferred posthumously to R Krishnan, and the award was received by his family members. He was a distinguished tribal artist and musician from the Alu Kurumba community in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. He was recognised for reviving the 3,000-year-old Kurumba tribal art tradition through his remarkable paintings. Krishnan dedicated his life to preserving and promoting indigenous artistic heritage. Using natural pigments and introducing canvas as the base for the traditional art form, he created over a thousand paintings that brought wider recognition to Kurumba art.
Reviving the 3,000-year-old Kurumba tribal art tradition through his remarkable paintings, Shri R Krishnan of Tamil Nadu dedicated his life to preserving and promoting indigenous artistic heritage.
Using natural pigments and introducing canvas as a base for the traditional… pic.twitter.com/jRMr6GBkDE
— Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India (@TribalAffairsIn) May 25, 2026
Born in the Nilgiris, he belonged to the Alu Kurumba tribe, a marginalised indigenous community known for its rich oral traditions, paintings and cultural folklore. He was deeply involved in traditional Alu Kurumba music, often using local instruments and folk songs to preserve the tribe’s ancestral heritage. Krishnan was posthumously conferred the Padma Shri by the President of India for his contribution to the field of Art.
R.V.S. Mani: He is a known Civil servant. Born on 29 October, 1959, Shri Mani served as Under Secretary in Ministry of the Home Affairs, Government of India. Mani was faced with challenging roles early in his assignment when the Varanasi Cantonment and Sankat Mochan Bomb blast occurred in the year 2006. He handled post blast responsibilities in both the instances competently. During the Mumbai terrorist attack on 26.11.2008, he had manned the MHA Control Room commendably along with personnel from Central Armed Police Forces and coordinated with stakeholders to mitigate the damage.
Dr. SKM. Maeilanandhan, an excutive Chairman of SKM Group of Companies, is a renowned entrepreneur and the founder of various Social welfare Trusts and a consumer activist. He is broadly familiar for his devotional service to spread Yoga and Meditation across the world. Born on 18 June, 1945 in a poor agricultural family in Erode District in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Maeilanandhan the pursued his education only till school final. He started the Poultry Farmers Welfare Association in 1983 and became its founder President. He pioneered a modern Rural Marketing Barter System which is being followed by the present traders.
He pioneered for self employment of the educated and uneducated people in the rural areas and provided job opportunities throughout the year. He organized many seminars and farmers’ meets to study and analyze their problems in the market & pricing and prevent emerging diseases of the poultry and educate the poultry farmers. He became the Editor and Publisher of a poultry monthly magazine “Kozhi Nanban”(Poultry Friend). Gradually, he developed his business to the international level status. He was instrumental in the inclusion of eggs in the Tamil Nadu Government Noon Meal Scheme to eradicate malnutrition among children.
Dr. Maeilanandhan is the President of the World Community Service Centre (WCSC) for the past 37 years, which has been spreading the value based cultural education among the general public and student community in the name of Yoga for Human Excellence (YHE) as Certificate, Diploma, UG, PG Courses, M.Phil and Ph.D. courses. For this, Vision for Wisdom, an Educational Wing of WCSC has been established by him. It is affiliated with 34 Universities. So far, around 2,51,410 students have undergone these courses. He established around 2235 sub-centres and 404 affiliated trusts in India and abroad for providing Yoga and spiritual education.
Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam: He is an eminent Mridangam maestro and one of the most distinguished exponents of Carnatic percussion. Born on 19 April, 1957 into a family of traditional musicians in Thiruvaarur, Tanjore District. Bakthavathsalam initially began vocal training under his mother, Sangeetha Vidushi Smt. T. R. Anandavalli, and eventually took to the Mridangam under the guidance and tutelage of his maternal uncle, Mridangam Maestro Thiruvaarur Sri Krishnamurthy, in the gurukulavasam tradition, emerging as a performer of exceptional calibre at a very young age.
Bakthavathsalam has played a pioneering role in conceptualizing large-scale percussion ensembles such as the 108 Laya Madhuraa Mridanga Yagna, which was included in the Limca Book of Records, besides several other innovative mridangam ensembles in India and abroad. He also led the 76- Mridangam Ensemble in Kanchipuram, organized in commemoration of the 76th birthday of Pujya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swami of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt. He has represented India in numerous international festivals and has actively promoted classical music through performances, lecturedemonstrations under SPIC MACAY, and ICCR initiatives.
Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan: Distinguished Veterinary Pharmacologist, Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan was honoured with Padma Shri. Thanjavur-based Punniyamurthy Natesan, a pioneer of scientific ethno-veterinary medicine, has been on a mission for over four decades, to wean the country’s farmers off their over-dependence on chemical inputs.
His works led to the development of stand-alone herbal treatment protocols for major live stock conditions which enabled disease management without synthetic chemicals, significantly contributed to antibiotic free milk, meat and egg production.
One of Dr Natesan’s notable achievements has been his leadership in the field of Ethno-Veterinary Medicine (EVM). Ethno-veterinary medicine refers to the traditional animal healthcare practices developed by local communities using medicinal plants, herbal formulations, and indigenous knowledge. While such practices were often overlooked in modern veterinary systems, Dr Natesan recognized their value and sought to validate them through rigorous scientific research.
TT Jagannathan (Posthumous) led TTK Prestige Limited, India s largest kitchen appliances and cookware’ company, for over five decades. Known as the “Kitchen Mogul of India”, he is recognised for transforming the Prestige brand into a trusted household name and for pioneering innovations that improved the safety and usability of pressure cookers.
Born on 13 May, 1948 in Madras, Jagannathan completed his Mechanical Engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He later pursued advanced studies in Operations Research at Cornell University, USA. Upon his return to India in 1972, he assumed leadership roles within the TTK Group, one of India’s oldest diversified business conglomerates.
As Chairman of the TTK Group, Shri Jagannathan built a reputation for quality, innovation, and trust across the Group companies, including TTK Prestige and TTK Healthcare. He continued the familys’ long-standing commitment to social welfare in health and education, supporting a large number of social and philanthropic causes. These included: the T.T. Ranganathan Clinical Research Foundation tackling deaddiction; the Madras Voluntary Blood Bank, the Rotary-TTK Blood Bank, and the Bangalore Medical Services Trust (BMST) for blood and tissue banking services; the TTK Centre for Rehabilitation Research & Device Development at IIT Madras; and the T.T. Narasimhan Swami Dayananda Higher Secondary School in Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu.
