By IANS,
New Delhi : A 92-year-old scholar was among those conferred with the Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan Friday for outstanding contribution to classical Tamil language and literature.
C. Govindarajanar, an archaeologist who worked for 17 years in the historically important region from Pumpukar to Vanci which led to the identification of the Kannaki temple, was conferred with the Tolkappiyar Award for outstanding contribution to Tamil studies.
Francois Gros, a French national, received the Kural Pitam Award for the year 2008-09. Gros has translated many Tamil classics into French and was vice-president of the International Association of Tamil Research.
Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil are instituted by the union Ministry of Human Resource Development to honour distinguished scholars.
The awards carry a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash prize of Rs.5 lakh.
Young Scholar Awards for the year 2008-09 were also conferred on A. Lakshmi Duttai, S. Madhavan, M. Ramakrishnan and S. Sentamizhpavai for excellence in Tamil studies.