INTRODUCTION

An award presented to an author for a particularly admired piece or body of work is known as a literary award. It is a way to reward writers for their hard work and commitment and also an effective way to introduce new readers to their books. Like any other art, books are essential to many cultures across the globe. They can change society and can also touch the hearts of the readers in the smallest ways. It’s not about who wins the award it’s more about culturally recognizing books as an important part of our life. In an age of attention-seeking media and screens, that recognition is critical to keep the art of book publishing and writing alive in the minds of people. Some prestigious awards are given by the government of India and others by different organizations.

JNANAPITH AWARD

The oldest and the highest Indian literary award is the Jnanapith award. It is presented annually to an author for their “outstanding contribution towards literature”. The award carries a cash prize of 11 lakh rupees and also includes a bronze goddess Saraswati idol. This award is conferred to Indian citizens only. The award is not awarded for single writing but lifetime achievement works. The first Awardee G Shankara Kurup who is a Malayalam poet got this award for his poem collection named Odakkuzhal. The recent person to win his award is Balchandra Nemade.

  • The Jnanapith award was established in 1961
  • It is sponsored by Gyanpeeth trust.
  • The first Jnanapith award was won by G Shankara Kurup.

SAHITYA AKADEMI FELLOWSHIP

A literary honor in India that confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major 24 languages which include Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, etc. The Sahitya Akademi fellowship forms the Highest honor that the Akademi bestowed through a system of electing fellows and Honorary Fellows. This is the second-highest literary award in India. This award is conferred for immortal Literature works in any officially approved languages. Leopold S Senghor from Senegal was the first honorary fellow and the last Honorary fellow was V. S. Naipaul in 2010.

  • It was instituted in 1968.
  • It is conferred by Sahitya Akademi, Government of India.
  • The first winner of Sahitya Akademi fellowship was S Radhakrishnan, former president of India.

KENDRA SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD

Sahitya Akademi award is the second-highest literature award bestowed by the government. The cash prize given is 1 lakh. Premchand fellowship, bhasha Samman, etc are some of the other important awards provided by Sahitya Akademi.

  • It was established in 1954.
  • It is awarded by the Sahitya Akademi, Govt of India
  • The first Awardee is Makhanlal Chaturvedi for his book Him Tarangini in the year 1955.

SARASWATI SAMMAN

Saraswati Samman is awarded for outstanding works in poetry in any of the 22 official languages. The cash prize is 15 lakhs and also a plaque and a citation. Shankha Ghosh, Vijay Tendulkar, etc are some of the notable poets who were conferred with this prestigious award. On April 7th, 2022 professor Ramdarash Mishra was awarded by Saraswati Samman. He was awarded for his Hindi poem ‘Main to Yahan Hun’. It is also considered one of the highest literary awards. The award is named after the GodSaraswati, who is the goddess of learning.

  • It was established on 1991
  • It is awarded by K K Birla Foundation
  • The first Awardee is Harivansh Rai Bachchan for his biography in the year 1991.

VYAAS SAMMAN

VyaasSamman is bestowed for Hindi literature. It carries a cash prize of 2.5 lakhs and some notable Hindi authors who received this prize are Dharmvir Bharti, Girija Kumar Mathur, Mannu Bhandari, etc. Dr. Ashger Wajahat was conferred the 31st Vyas Samman. He was chosen for this award for his play Mahabali. In 2019 Nasira Sharma won the award for her book ‘Kaagaz Ki Naav’, in 2018 Leeladhar Jagudi won for her book ‘Jitney Log Utne Prem’, in 2017 Mamta Kaila won the award for her work ‘Dukkam Sukkam’ etc.

  • It was established on 1991
  • It is awarded by K K Birla Foundation
  • The first Awardee is Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma in the year 1991. 

THE HINDU LITERARY PRIZE

The Hindu has always been promoting good literature both in English and other languages. The Hindu Literary prize is also known as The Hindu Best Fiction award. It is given for English literacy and translation works done by Indian authors.  It is instituted to honor the writers who have spent their lifetime searching the human spirit through their words and ideas. Publishers can send their entries during the months of May and June every year. A panel of judges which comprises writers,academicians, and critics decide the final winner.

  • It was established in 2010.
  • The first Awardees are Soumya Bhattacharya, Manu Joseph, Anjali Joseph, DaisyHasan, AnjumHasan, Tishani Doshi, Manjul Bajaj, Tabish Khair, etc.
  • It is awarded by Hindu Literary Review.

SAHITYA AKADEMI YUVA PURASKAR

Yuva means youth and as the name suggests this award is conferred to young writers who are under the age of 35 years. The award is also known as Sahitya Akademi Yuva Award. The award is a copper plague accompanied by a cash prize of 50 thousand rupees.

  • It was established on 2011
  • It is awarded by the National Academy of Letters, Govt of India.
  • The first Awardees include Vishal Khullar (Urdu), Vempalli Gangadhar (Telugu), M. Thavasi (Tamil), Satilal Murmu (Santali), Paramanand Jha (Sanskrit), Sumesh Chandroth (Malayalam), etc.

MAHAPANDIT RAHUL SANKRITAYAN AWARD

Rahul Sankritayan national award is another name for this award. This Award is bestowed for exemplary works in travel literature in Hindi. Rahul Sankritayan is the father of Hindi Travel literature. Dr. Puran Chandra Joshi, Hariam Meena was awarded MAHAPANDIT Rahul Sankritayan award in 2014.

  • It was established in 1989.
  • It is awarded by Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
  • The first Awardee is Dr. Kamala Sankrityayan and Dr. Shyam Singh Rashi.

JCB PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

JCB Prize for literature is awarded for distinguished works of fiction by an Indian author. It is considered to be India’s most revered Literary prize. The cash prize carries an amount of 25 lakhs. It is acknowledged as the most expensive Indian award for writing.  Every year publishers are asked to send their finest work out of which the jury chooses the best top 10 books that “excites a searching heart”. After hours of reading and discussions, a shortlist will be declared. Apart from the winner, five more shortlisted authors receive an amount of five lakhs, and also if the winning work is a translation, the translator is awarded an extra 10 lakhs.

  • It was established in 2018.
  • It is awarded by JCB
  • The first winner is Benyamin.

MOORTHIDEVI AWARD

Moorthidevi award is an award presented in memory of Smt. Moorti Devi, mother of Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain is the founder of Bharatiya jnanapith a contemplative or intellectual work. The award is given out to writings that express Indian philosophy and cultural heritage based on wider ideals and human values. The award is given to Indian writers who write in Indian languages included in the eighth schedule of the constitution of India and English.

  • It was established in 1982.
  • It is awarded by Bharatiya Jnanapith.
  • The first recipient of this award was C K Nagaraja Rao who was a Kannada writer. He was awarded for his novel Pattamahadevi Shantala Devi.

RABINDRA PURASKAR

Rabindra Puraskar is the highest honorary literary award given in West Bengal. The award is named after poet Rabindranath Tagore. The award is conferred to creative literature, nonfiction, and books about Bengal in Bengali as well as other languages. Amartya sen, Himangi Banerji, Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya, Buddhadeb Basu, and Sukumar Sen are some eminent persons to receive this award.

  • It was established in 1950.
  • It is awarded by Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, Bengal state government.
  • The first Awardee is Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Niharanjan Ray, and Satinanth Bhaduri in the year 1950.

KABIR SAMMAN

Kabir Samman is a national award conferred by the Culture department of Madhya Pradesh. It is conferred for distinguished works in literature. The award carries a cash prize of 1.5 lakhs. This is one of the biggest awards given by the Madhya Pradesh government. Rewa Prasad Dwivedi who is a scholar and Sanskrit poet won Kabir Samman for his work in the year 2013 for his work in Sanskrit.

  • It was established in 1986.
  • It is awarded by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
  • The first Awardee is Gopal Krishna Adiga.

SAHITYA GAURAV PURASKAR

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar is conferred by the Gujarat state government. This award is awarded to authors for their exemplary contribution to Gujarati literature. The cash prize is 1 lakh rupees. The winner will also receive a plague and a shawl.

  • It was established on 1983
  • It was awarded by Gujarat Sahitya Academy, Gujarat Government.
  • The first Awardee is Vishnuprasad Trivedi.

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