Yogi Sri M and the later legal lawyer and educator N R Madhavan were among the Malayalis who have been conferred Padmabhooshan. N R Madhavan has been given the honour posthumously.
Moozhikkal Pankajakshi, Kerala's last surviving link with Nokkuvidya Pavakkali, the centuries old traditional puppetry of Kerala, has been awarded Padma Shri. Nokkuvidya Pavakkali (nokku-look, vidya-technique, pavakkali-puppetry) demands strenuous training, before performing the same with absolute confidence. Sathyanarayan Mundayoor got Padma Shri got Padma Shri for his works in Rural education.
Other Malayalis who got the awards are M K Kunjol (social activities), K S Manilal (botany scholar and taxonomist), and Hindi Sahitya Academy founder N Chandrasekharan Nair (Literature, Education).