Hinju (Ladakh) [India], January 27 (ANI): A wood carving artist from Hinju village of Ladakh was conferred the Padma Shri award on the 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday for the work of extraordinary craftsmanship.

Tsering Namgyal, who was conferred with the award told ANI that he has been working for the past 25 years and has learnt his work by himself.

"I want to thank the government for honouring me with the Padma Shri award. I am very happy. I am doing this work for 40 years. There was nobody to teach me here, so I learnt everything on my own," he said.

Namgyal informed that he has worked in Vietnam in different monasteries.

"I have worked in Vietnam as well. I have designed wooden doors in the monasteries," he said.

Meanwhile, the list of 128 Padma awardees includes Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella and co-founder Suchitra Ella, Serum Institute of India Managing Director Cyrus Poonawalla and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, singer Sonu Nigam, late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Padma Awards are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The awards are given in various disciplines, fields of activities including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.(ANI)