Tamil Nadu state government decided last year to honor eminent personalities in the fields of dance, drama and music with awards every year.

Music maestro Ilayaraja was on Monday named as the recipient of the prestigious MS Subbulakshmi award. Noted novelist Jayakanthan has been selected for the Bharathi award and danseuse Padma Subramaniam will be honored with the Bala Saraswati award. A cash prize of 1 lakh and a memento will be awarded to the winners of the award, the state government has announced.