Music maestro Ilaiyaraja has been selected for India's second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan. While he has mainly composed for Tamil films, he has also given music to various Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films through out his life. With a career spanning over four decades, the composer has given music in over 1000 films.
Ilaiyaraja has won five National Film Awards, three for Music Direction and two for Background Score. His last National Film Award was for Tamil film 'Tharai Thappattai'. The musician took to the art from a very young age. He joined a travelling musical troupe at the age of 14, spending a decade travelling through South India, learning more about music. His first film work was in 1975, for the movie 'Annakkili'. Ilaiyaraja has rendered his art to over 6500 songs. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2010.
A total of 85 people have been selected for Padma awards this year, including three Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan, and 73 Padma Sri. Fourteen awardees are women, and 16 are foreigners or non-resident Indians. Three people have been honoured posthumously.
