Chennai, Oct 1 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday paid floral tributes to late actor Sivaji Ganesan on his 93rd birth anniversary at the Mani Mandapam constructed in honour of the late thespian at Adayar in Chennai.

The Chief Minister said that Sivaji Ganesan was a great actor who was the pride of Tamil Nadu, as he reminiscenced the association his father late M. Karunanidhi had with the actor since the "Parasakthi" (1952) days. The script of the movie was written by Karunanidhi while Sivaji played the lead actor in the film.

Several politicians, including state Health Minister Ma Subramanian were present during the occasion in which the family members of the thespian actor were also present.

The actor, who earned the sobriquet "Nadigar Thilagam", which meant top class actor in Tamil, passed away on July 21, 2001 at the age of 73.

Born as Villupuram Chinniah Ganesan, or V.C. Ganesan, at Villupuram in the then South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, Ganesan entered the world of theatre at the young age of 7. He started playing child and female roles at a young age in popular theatre groups, and also trained in three dance forms -- Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Manipuri.

Ganesan's big break in acting came when he portrayed the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the play "Sivaji Kanda Samrajyam", written and directed by late former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and doyen of Dravidian politics, C.N. Annadurai.

The name Sivaji became iconic and Ganesan retained the name throughout his extraordinary acting carrier. The big break for the legendary actor came with 'Parasakthi'.