K. Pajanivel
A silambam master from Puducherry who has trained more than 5,000 students, many through free summer camps, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
Silambam is a stick-fighting martial art from Tamil Nadu, now also played as a competitive sport in India and abroad [2]. K. Pajanivel has given his life to it. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of sports, from Puducherry [1].
Champion
Pajanivel was born on 30 January 1973 into a farming family in Pooranankuppam, Puducherry [2]. He was drawn to silambam and folk arts as a child [2]. He won an international silambam competition in Tiruchirappalli in 2002 and a national title in Nagercoil in 2004 [2]. He also practises other martial arts such as kalaripayattu, sword fighting and surul vilaiyattu, and folk arts like puliyattam and karagattam [2].
Free camps
In 2002 he founded the Mamallan Silambam and Folk Art Development Club in Pooranankuppam [2]. That same year he started free summer camps teaching silambam to schoolchildren, and he still runs them [2]. He has trained more than 5,000 students, including visitors from France, Germany, Italy and Brazil, and his students have won state and national prizes [2]. He also referees competitions [2].
He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar from the President in 2023, and the Puducherry government’s Puthuvai Kalaimamani in 2012 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2026: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2026 investiture ceremony brochure: citation for K. Pajanivel — Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Accessed 12 October 2026.
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