Tamil scholar Pudhumanar and AR Venkatachalapathy honored with awards

Eminent Tamil scholar V. Padhumanar and historian AR Venkatachalapathy were awarded the Mahavidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai Award and Dr. U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Award from Dr. U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, at a function held at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai on Tuesday.

Convocation President JCD Prabhakar presented the awards, citations and cash prizes in the presence of G. Viswanathan, Chairman and Chancellor of the Library, VIT, and GV Selvam, Vice-President, VIT.

Mr. Padhumanar was presented with an award for his contribution to the Tamil language, while Mr. Venkatachalapathy received an award in recognition of his contribution to Tamil history and research.

Mr. Prabhakar also published a book on Nannool, with Mr. Selvam receiving the first copy.

Mr. Viswanathan urged the political parties in Tamil Nadu to work together for the development of the state and the country, referring to the political systems of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, adding that the political parties there have shown cooperation in matters of national development, a press release said.

Published – 30 Sep 2026 0:47 IST