Viswanathan Anand conferred with Hridaynath Mangeskar Award 2016

Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on 12 April 2016 conferred the Hridaynath Award on Chess wizard Viswanathan Anand in Mumbai.
He was conferred the award during the celebrations of 25th anniversary of the Hridayesh Arts which gives the awards.
He was chosen for the award for his contributions to the game of Chess in India by becoming five-time world chess champion.
With this, he joined others personalities who have received the award like LataMangeshkar, BabasahebPurandare, Asha Bhosle, Amitabh Bachchan, HariprasadChaurasia and AR Rahman.  
VishwanathanAnand also is the first sports personality to have received this prestigious award.
Born on 11 December 1969, Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1988. He held the FIDE World Chess Championship title from 2000 to 2002 and became the undisputed world champion in 2007.
Other sports personalities who were felicitated during the awards ceremony were D Prasad, Praveen Thipsey along with his wife Bhagyashree, PadmashreeAnupamaGokhale, RaghunandanGokhale, Dhanraj Pillay, Devendra Joshi, Kamesh Mehta and ParnaliDharia.
• It was instituted by Hridayesh Art, a Mumbai- based socio-cultural organization founded in 1990 in honour of music composer and singer HridaynathMangeskar.
• The annual award given since 2011 recognises individuals for success in various walks of life. It comprises a cash award of 2 lakh rupees and a memento.