Tamils all over the world greeted the news of Isaigniani Ilayaraja receiving the Padma Vibushan Award from the Central government when it was announced in January.  Today at Ilayaraja was the first to receive the honour from the President of India Ramnath Govind.    Ilayaraja's contribution to Indian film music is unparalelled and spans across all languages over a period of four decades and continuing.

The occassion was graced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Apart from Ilayaraja, Archeologist Ramachandran Nagaswamym musician Arvind Parik and Yoga exponent Gnanammal were the other Tamilians who received the second highest civilian award.