Tamil poet-lyricist R Vairamuthu conferred 2025 Jnanpith Award
The celebrated lyricist, who has written more than 7,500 songs and poems over five decades, joins Akilan and Jayakanthan as the only Tamil recipients of the prestigious literary honour
The 2025 Jnanpith Award has been conferred on Tamil lyricist, poet, and novelist R Vairamuthu in recognition of his contributions to literature. With this honour, Vairamuthu becomes the third Tamil writer to receive the prestigious award after Akilan (1975) and Jayakanthan (2002).
Vairamuthu entered the Tamil film industry in 1980 through Bharathiraja’s film Nizhalgal. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has written over 7,500 songs and poems, making him one of the most prominent lyricists in Indian cinema.
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He has received seven National Film Awards and six state awards. In recognition of his literary contributions, he has also been honoured with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Sahitya Akademi Award.
In 1999, his novel Thanneer Desam won the SP Adithanar Literary Award for Best Tamil Novel. His work Kallikkattu Ithikasam won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2003. For his contributions to Indian literature through poetry, novels, and lyrics, he received the Sadhan Samman in 2009.
His novel Moondram Ulaga Por won the Ilakkiya Chinthanai Award for Best Tamil Novel in 2013 and the Thanthai KR Somasundaram Literature Foundation Award in the same year. In 2018, the Hindi translation of Kallikkattu Ithikasam received the FICCI Book of the Year Award.