Mukherjee presents 'Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil'

President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday presented the 'Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil' for the year 2011-12 and 2012-13 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The ' Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil' were instituted to give recognition and honour to distinguished scholars, who have made outstanding contribution to classical Tamil language and literature.

These awards include Thokappiyar Award for life time achievement to an Indian scholar for outstanding contribution in the field of Tamil studies; Kural Pitam Award for eminent scholars of Classical Tamil of non-Indian origin and 'Young Scholar Awards' for young scholars in the age group of 30-40 years for showing interest and excellence in Tamil studies with publications.

The Tolkappiyar Award for the year 2011-12 was presented to S.V. Shanmugam while for the year 2012-13 was given to R. Krishnamurthi.

The Kural Pitam Award for the year 2011-12 was given to Eva Maria Wilden.

The Young Scholar Awards for 2011-12 was presented to K. Iyyappan, E. Ezhilvasanthan and K. Jawahar while for the year 2013-13 was given to A. Sathish, R. Venkatesan, B. Jaiganesh, M.R. Devaki and U. Alibava.