Jnanpith Award - Goddess Saraswati
Jnanpith Award is one of the most prestigious Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith Foundation to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature." 

The award is only given to Indian writers writing in Indian languages (included in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution of India) and English.Jnanpith Award was given only for single work till 1982. After 1982, it is given for lifetime contribution to Indian literature as well.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 11 lakh and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.

List of Recipients

YearRecipientLanguage
1965G.Sankara KuruupMalayalam
1966Tara Shankar BanerjeeBengali
1967Dr.K.V.PuttappaKannada
1967Umashankar JoshiGujarati
1968Sumitranand PantHindi
1969Firaq Gorakhpuri
Hindi
1970Dr.Viswanatha SatynarayanaTelugu
1971Bishnu DeyBengali
1972Dr.Ramdhari Singh DinkarHindi
1973Dattatreya Ramachandra BendreKannada
1973Gopinath MohantyOriya
1974Vishnu Sakharam KhandekarMarathi
1975P.V.Akhilanadam (Akhilan)Tamil
1976Ashapoorna DeviBengali
1977Dr.K.Shivarama KaranthKannada
1978S.H.VatsyayanHindi
1979Birendra Kumar BhattacharyaAssamese
1980S.K.PottakkattMalayalam
1981Amrita PritamPanjabi
1982Mahadevi VermaHindi
1983Dr.Masti Venkatesh IyengarKannada
1984Thakazhi Shivashankara PillaiMalayalam
1985Pannalal PatelGujarati
1986Satchidanand RautroyOriya
1987V.V.ShiwadkarMarathi
1988Dr.C.Narayana ReddyTelugu
1989Qurratul-ain-HaiderUrdu
1990Vinayak Krishna GokakKannada
1991Subhas MukhopadhyayBengali
1992Naresh MehtaHindi
1993Sitahanth MahapatraOriya
1994U.R.Anantha MurthyKannada
1995M.T.Vasudevan NairMalayalam
1996Mahasweta DeviBengali
1997Ali Sardar JafriUrdu
1998Girish KarnadKannada
1999Nirmal VermaHindi
1999Gurdayal SinghPunjabi
2000Indira GoswamiAssamese
2001 Rajendra Keshavlal ShahGujarati
2002D.JayakanthanTamil
2003Vinda KarandikarMarathi
2004Rahman RahiKashmiri
2005Kunwar NarayanHindi
2006Satya Vrat ShastriSanskrit
2006Ravindra KelekarKonkani
2007O.N.V.KurupMalayalam
2008Akhlaq Mohammed KhanUrdu
2009Amar Kant and Shrilal ShuklaHindi
2010Chandrasekhar KambarKannada
2011Prathibha RaiOriya
2012Ravuri BharadhwajaTelugu
2013Kedarnath SinghHindi
2014Bhalchandra NemadeMarathi
2015Raghuveer ChaudhariGujarati
2016Shankha GhoshBengali
2017Krishna SobtiHindi
2018Amitab GhoshEnglish
2019 [55th]Akkitham Achuthan NamboothiriMalayalam
2021Nilmani Phukan
Assamese
2022Damodar Mauzo Konkani
2023
[58th]		Gulzar
Jagadguru Rambhadracharya		 Urdu
Sanskrit

SideNotes:

  • Instituted on – 22 May 1961
  • No. of Malayalam writers who have received the Jnanpith so far – 6.
    • 1965 – G. Shankara Kurup (Odakkuzhal)
    • 1980 – S.K. Pottekkatt (Oru Desathinte Katha)
    • 1984 – Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Kayar)
    • 1995 – M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Overall Contribution)
    • 2007 – O.N.V. Kurup (Overall Contribution)
    • 2019 – Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri
  • First Malayali to win the Jnanpith Award – G. Sankara Kurup.
    • G. Shanakara Kurup is also known as – 'Mahakavi G'
    • Birth place of G. Shanakara Kurup – Nayathode (Ernakulam).
    • First Mystic Poet in Kerala – G. Sankara Kurup.
    • Jnanpith award winner who became a member of Rajya Sabha – G. Sankara Kurup (1968).
    • Autobiography – Ormmayude Olangalil.
  • First Poet to become a member of Rajya Sabha – Maithilisharan Gupta (1952).
  • First novelist to win Jnanapith Award – Tharashankar Banerjee (1966)
  • First Malayali novelist to win the Jnanpith Award – S. K Pottekkatt (1980, Shankaran Kutty Pottekkatt) (G. Shankara Kurup was a poet).
    • Only Jnanpith award winner to become a member of Lok Sabha – S.K. Pottekkatt. (Kannur, 1962)
    • Most no. of travelogues in Malayalam were written by – S.K. Pottekkatt.
  • First woman recipient of Jnanpith Award – Ashapoorna Devi (Bengali Writer).
  • First English language writer to receive the award – Amitab Ghosh (2018).
  • Jnanpith winner who was the Vice-Chancellor of MG University – Prof. U.R. Anantha Murthy (1994)
  • Malayalam writer to win Jnanpith Award for his overall contribution in Malayalam literature on 1995 – M. T Vasudevan Nair (Madathil Thekkepattu Vasudevan Nair).
  • Bharatiya Jnanpith is a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of The Times of India Newspaper. It was founded in 1944 by industrialist and philanthropist Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain.

  • Famous Works of Akkitham:
    • Akkitham Kavithakal
    • Arangettam,
    • Veeravadam,
    • Antimahakalam,
    • Nimisha Kshethram,
    • Idinju Polinja Lokam,
    • Balidarsanam,
    • Amrita Khatika,
    • Kalikkottilil &
    • Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (Epic of Twentieth Century)

  • Awards won by Akkitham so far – Padmasree, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (1972 and 1988), Sahitya Akademi Award (1973), Aasan Prize(1994), Vallathol Award, Vayalar Award (2012 - Anthimahakalam), Odakkuzhal Award (1973 - Nimisha Kshethram), Ezhuthachan Award (2008), Nalappad Award, Mathrubhumi Award, KrishnaGeedhi Award, and Kabir Samman.