The India International Friendship Society honoured senior and renowned contemporary Artist S Jayaraj with the most prestigious and coveted Rashtriya Gaurav Award along with a Certificate of Excellence at a Seminar on Economic Growth and National Integration held on 18 September 2009 at Hotel Connaught, New Delhi. The award has been given to him in recognition of his remarkable achievement in the field of Art, Photography and Documentary Films, mainly featuring the developmental concerns. The Chief Guest of the occasion was Dr. Shri. GVG Krishnamoorthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India. The other eminent guests present on the occasion were Dr. Bhisham Narain Singh, Former Governor, Tamil Nadu and Assam; Shri. H.H. Iqbal Singh, Lt. Governor, Puducherry and Mr. Mehboob Baig, Member of Parliament, Jammu & Kashmir.

S Jayaraj is a professional contemporary artist based at Chennai. He passed out from the Government College of Arts, Chennai in 1985 with specialization in human anatomy which inspired his thousands of sketches and paintings. He is intimately familiar with the rural India through his association with development projects over more than two decades. He is mesmerized by the Indian rural life and has captured fleeting expressions and multifarious moods of rural folks, especially women. The mud plastered walls, uneven roads and bullock carts – all find place in his artworks along with soulful expressions of people. The artist has previously been awarded by maestro of arts, Shri. M F Hussain.

One of the IIFS’s representatives said that Mr. Jayaraj was chosen for this honour because he has given a fight in his life and made a remarkable contribution to the society which is an inspiration for others.

The award was given to few extraordinary men and women who have specialized in various fields like science and technology, education, industry, fine arts, politics and social services in lieu of services rendered with excellence in their respective fields. Rashtriya Gaurav Award has been previously received by many eminent people like Mother Teresa, Dr. Bhisham Narain Singh, Vijay Mallya, S P Balasubramaniam, cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Syed Kirmani, Kiran Bedi, film actors like Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt, etc.