Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Kalaimamani awards presented to 70 persons

— Photo : M. Vedhan

Golden moment: Actor Asin receiving a gold medal from Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at function held in Chennai on Saturday. Governor Surjit Singh Barnala is in the picture.

CHENNAI: A world-class and massive auditorium is going to come up in place of Kalaivanar Arangam [one of the popular venues of government functions and cultural programmes in the city], Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Saturday.

Addressing a function organised at the Arangam here by Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram for the presentation of the Kalaimamani award, Mr Karunanidhi said the Arangam, which once accommodated the State Assembly and had witnessed several historic functions, would not hereafter be the venue for functions, as work on the new auditorium had to be taken up. The proposed hall would be as big as auditoriums in other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. This would form part of the new Assembly complex, which would be bigger and more beautiful than Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore, the Chief Minister said.

He recalled that it was he who named the Government Estate after Omandur P. Ramaswamy Reddiar, who was Chief Minister of the former Madras State at the time of Independence.

Presenting the award to about 70 persons, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala called for more and more inter-State cultural exchange programmes. He wanted educational institutions to encourage culture-oriented activities. So far, about 1,450 artists had been honoured with the Kalaimamani award.

Among those who received the award were Avvai Natarajan, Saroj Narayanaswamy, ., Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan, Asin, Harris Jayaraj, Abirami Ramanathan, Baskar Sakthi, Anu Hassan, Masilamani and Zakir Hussain.

V. Irai Anbu, Secretary of Tourism-Culture department, and Rama. Narayanan, president of the Mandram, spoke.

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