Bharatiya Gyanpith Awards (Jnanpith Award)
On 22nd May, 1961, the fiftieth birthday of Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, the founder of the Bharatiya Jnanpith, members of his family thought that some unique scheme, commanding national prestige and of international standard, should be started in literary or cultural field. Consequently, when on 16th September, 1961, the Board of Trustees was considering matters relating to the 'Rashtrabharati Granthamala', which brings out Hindi translations of outstanding works of other Indian languages, Smt. Rama Jain, the Founder President of the Jnanpith, queried whether it was possible to select the best book out of the publications in Indian languages for a big award.
A discussion on the question was initiated by Smt. Rama Jain herself when she invited some of the leading litterateurs at her residence in Calcutta on 22nd November, 1961. Kaka Kalelkar, Harivansh Rai 'Bachchan', Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Jainendra Kumar, Jagdish Chandra Mathur, Prabhakar Machwe, Akshaya Kumar Jain and Lakshmi Chandra Jain discussed various aspects of the idea. Two days later, a primary plan was presented by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of India, who liked the idea greatly and promised to help in its implementation.
A discussion on the question was initiated by Smt. Rama Jain herself when she invited some of the leading litterateurs at her residence in Calcutta on 22nd November, 1961. Kaka Kalelkar, Harivansh Rai 'Bachchan', Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Jainendra Kumar, Jagdish Chandra Mathur, Prabhakar Machwe, Akshaya Kumar Jain and Lakshmi Chandra Jain discussed various aspects of the idea. Two days later, a primary plan was presented by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain to Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of India, who liked the idea greatly and promised to help in its implementation.
Winners of Gyanpith Awards
Year Name Works Language
2013 Kedarnath Singh For his notable contribution to Hindi literature. HINDI
‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works
‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works
2012 Ravuri Bharadhwaja For his notable contribution to Telugu literature Telugu
2011 Pratibha Ray Yajnaseni Oriya
2010 Chandrashekhara Kambara For his contributions to Kannada literature Kannada
2009 Amar Kant For his contribution in Hindi literature Hindi
2009 Sri Lal Sukla For his contribution in Hindi literature Hindi
2008 Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar 'For his contribution in Urdu literature Urdu
2007 O. N. V. Kurup For his contributions to Malayalam literature Malayalam
2006 Ravindra Kelekar For his contribution in Konkani literature Konkani
2006 Satya Vrat Shastri For his contribution in Sanskrit literature Sanskrit
2005 Kunwar Narayan For overall contribution in Hindi literature Hindi
2004 Rehman Rahi Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and Siyah Rode Jaren Manz Kashmiri
2003 Vinda Karandikar For his contributions to Marathi literature Marathi
2002 D. Jayakanthan For his contribution in Tamil literature Tamil
2001 Rajendra Shah For his contribution in Gujarati literature Gujarati
2000 Indira Goswami For writing about the subalterns and marginalised &contribution in Assamese
Assamese literature
Assamese literature
1999 Nirmal Verma For his contribution in Hindi literature Hindi
1999 Gurdial Singh For his contribution in Punjabi literature Punjabi
1998 Girish Karnad For his contributions to Kannada literature and for contributions to
Kannada theatre (Yayati) Kannad
Kannada theatre (Yayati) Kannad
1997 Ali Sardar Jafri For his contribution in Urdu literature Urdu
1996 Mahasweta Devi Hajar Churashir Maa Bengali
1995 M. T. Vasudevan Nair For his contributions to Malayalam literature Malayalam
1994 U. R. Ananthamurthy For his contributions to Kannada literature Kannada
1993 Sitakant Mahapatra For outstanding contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature, 1973–92 Oriya
1992 Naresh Mehta For his contribution in Hindi literature Hindi
1991 Subhas Mukhopadhyay Padatik (The Foot Soldier) Bengali
1990 V. K. Gokak (Vinayaka Krishna Gokak) Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi Kannada
1989 Qurratulain Hyder Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar Urdu
1988 C. Narayana Reddy Viswambhara Telugu
1987 Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (Kusumagraj) For his contributions to Marathi literature Marathi
1986 Sachidananda Routray For his contribution in Oriya literature Oriya
1986 Sachidananda Routray For his contribution in Oriya literature Oriya
1986 Sachidananda Routray For his contribution in Oriya literature Oriya
1985 Pannalal Patel Maanavi Ni Bhavaai Gujarati
1984 Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Kayar (Coir) Malayalam
1983 Masti Venkatesha Iyengar Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra) Kannada
1985 Pannalal Patel Maanavi Ni Bhavaai Gujarati
1984 Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Kayar (Coir) Malayalam
1983 Masti Venkatesha Iyengar Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra) Kannada
1984 Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Kayar (Coir) Malayalam
1983 Masti Venkatesha Iyengar Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra) Kannada
1985 Pannalal Patel Maanavi Ni Bhavaai Gujarati
1984 Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Kayar (Coir) Malayalam
1983 Masti Venkatesha Iyengar Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra) Kannada
1982 Mahadevi Varma Yama Hindi
1981 Amrita Pritam Kagaj te Canvas Punjabi
1980 S. K. Pottekkatt Oru Desathinte Katha (Story of a Land) Malayalam
1979 Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya Mrityunjay (Immortal) Assamese
1978 Sachchidananda Vatsyayan Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar (How many times in how many HINDI boats?
1977 K. Shivaram Karanth Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (Mookajjis dreams) Kannada
1976 Ashapurna Devi Pratham Pratisruti Bengali
1975 P. V. Akilan Chitttrappavai Tamil
1974 Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar Yayati Marathi
1973 Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre Nakutanti(Four Strings) Kannada
1973 Gopinath Mohanty Matimatal Oriya
1972 Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Urvashi Hindi
1971 Bishnu Dey Smriti Satta Bhavishyat Bengali
1970 Viswanatha Satyanarayana Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu (A resourceful tree:Ramayana) Telugu
1969 Firaq Gorakhpuri Gul-e-Naghma Urdu
1968 Sumitranandan Pant Chidambara Hindi
1967 Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa (Kuvempu) Sri Ramayana Darshanam Kannada
1967 Umashankar Joshi Nishitha Gujarati
1966 Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Ganadevta Bengali
1965 G. Sankara Kurup Odakkuzhal (Flute) Malayalam
1981 Amrita Pritam Kagaj te Canvas Punjabi
1980 S. K. Pottekkatt Oru Desathinte Katha (Story of a Land) Malayalam
1979 Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya Mrityunjay (Immortal) Assamese
1978 Sachchidananda Vatsyayan Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar (How many times in how many HINDI boats?
1977 K. Shivaram Karanth Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (Mookajjis dreams) Kannada
1976 Ashapurna Devi Pratham Pratisruti Bengali
1975 P. V. Akilan Chitttrappavai Tamil
1974 Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar Yayati Marathi
1973 Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre Nakutanti(Four Strings) Kannada
1973 Gopinath Mohanty Matimatal Oriya
1972 Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Urvashi Hindi
1971 Bishnu Dey Smriti Satta Bhavishyat Bengali
1970 Viswanatha Satyanarayana Ramayana Kalpavrukshamu (A resourceful tree:Ramayana) Telugu
1969 Firaq Gorakhpuri Gul-e-Naghma Urdu
1968 Sumitranandan Pant Chidambara Hindi
1967 Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa (Kuvempu) Sri Ramayana Darshanam Kannada
1967 Umashankar Joshi Nishitha Gujarati
1966 Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Ganadevta Bengali
1965 G. Sankara Kurup Odakkuzhal (Flute) Malayalam