Since then, Anantha has accompanied the finest artists among an entire generation of Carnatic music in India and around the world. The Music Academy of Chennai awarded Anantha its prize for Best Mridangam Artist for three years consecutively between 1998 - 2001, a first for a mridangam artist under the age of twenty. After a break of six years, Anantha returned to the Music Academy in 2007 and was again awarded this prize.