Superstar Rajinikanth was conferred with India’s second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan in the capital on Tuesday. Dressed in a traditional attire, he received the Padma Vibhushan from President Pranab Mukherjee. 

The actor left for Delhi on Monday night accompanied by his wife. While interacting with reporters at the Chennai airport about his next release Kabali, the actor said "Kabali will be releasing by last week of May or first week of June".

Besides Rajinikanth, actress Priyanka received the Padma Shri, singer Udit Narayan and tennis player Sania Mirza were awarded the Padma Bhushan.

The Padma Award winners for 2016 were announced in January. The awards are conferred in three categories - Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri. 

The President presented five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 43 Padma Shri awards at the function.

The Padma Awards this year were conferred in two ceremonies. On March 28, actors Ajay Devgn and Anupam Kher and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar received their Padma Awards.

(Content provided by Digital Native)