List of Jnanapith Award Winners

The Literary award Jnanpith or Gyanpith is one of the highest literary honour in India. Some call it Gyanpeeth award also.  The award is meant to recognize, nurture and promote the excellence in writing in all recognized Indian languages. It is awarded only to Indian nationals.


The Jnanpith award is awarded every year for best creative writing to an Indian citizen in any of the 22 languages that are included in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution. English has also been included for consideration of the award from 49th award onwards.


This Award is sponsored by the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust, which is a literary and cultural organisation that was set up in 1944, by the late Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and his wife Rama Jain. The Jain family are the publishers of The Times of India newspaper. This award is considered to be the most prestigious literary award of the country.


The Jnanpith Award : It carries a cash price of Rs 11 lakhs, a citation plank and a bronze replica of goddess Saraswati ‘Vagdevi’.





Jnanapeetha

Prior to 1982, the Jnanpith Award were given for a single work of Author, but after that, the Jnanpith Award is being given for the lifetime contribution of the writer to the Indian literature. The Jnanpeeth Award has become a symbol of the comprehensive vision of Indian literature along with national integrity.


Firsts in Jnanpith Awards:


1. First Jnanpith: The first award for Jnanpith was given in 1965 to G. Sankara Kurup for Malayali Literature.


2. First Lady to win Gyanpith Award: The first women to receive this prestigious award was the Bengali writer Ashapoorna Devi who was awarded in 1976.


3. First Jnanpith in English: Amitav Ghosh became the first English writer to win Jnanpith Award in 2018.




Year : Name – Works (Language)
1965 : G. Sankara Kurup – Odakkuzhal [Flute] (Malayalam)
1966 : Tarashankar Bandopadhyaya – Ganadevta (Bengali)
1967 : Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa (Kuvempu) – Sri Ramayana Darshanam (Kannada)
1967 : Umashankar Joshi – Nishitha (Gujarati)
1968 : Sumitranandan Pant – Chidambara (Hindi)
1969 : Firaq Gorakhpuri – Gul-e-Naghma (Urdu)
1970 : Viswanatha Satyanarayana – Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu [A resourceful tree:Ramayana] (Telugu)
1971 : Bishnu Dey Smriti – Satta Bhavishyat (Bengali)
1972 : Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' – Urvashi (Hindi)
1973 : Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre – Nakutanti [Naku Thanthi (Four Strings)] (Kannada)
1973 : Gopinath Mohanty – Paraja (Oriya)
1974 : Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar – Yayati (Marathi)
1975 : P. V. Akilan – Chitttrappavai (Tamil)
1976 : Ashapurna Devi – Pratham Pratisruti (Bengali)
1977 : K. Shivaram Karanth – Mookajjiya Kanasugalu [Mookajjis dreams] (Kannada)
1978 : Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Ajneya' – Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar [How many times in many boats?] (Hindi)
1979 : Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya – Mrityunjay [Immortal] (Assamese)
1980 : S. K. Pottekkatt – Oru Desathinte Katha [Story of a land] (Malayalam)
1981 : Amrita Pritam – Kagaj te Canvas (Punjabi)
1982 : Mahadevi Varma – Yama (Hindi)
1983 : Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar – Chikkaveera Rajendra [Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra] (Kannada)
1984 : Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai – Kayar [Coir] (Malayalam)
1985 : Pannalal Patel – Maanavi Ni Bhavaai (Gujarati)
1986 : Sachidananda Rout Roy (Oriya)
1987 : Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (Kusumagraj) – Natsamrat (Marathi)
1988 : Dr.C. Narayana Reddy – Vishwambhara (Telugu)
1989 : Qurratulain Hyder – Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar (Urdu)
1990 : V. K. Gokak (Vinayaka Krishna Gokak) – Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi (Kannada)
1991 : Subhas Mukhopadhyay – Padati (Bengali)
1992 : Naresh Mehta (Hindi)
1993 : Sitakant Mahapatra – "for outstanding contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature, 1973-92" (Oriya)
1994 : U. R. Ananthamurthy – for his contributions to (Kannada) literature (Kannada)
1995 : M. T. Vasudevan Nair – Randamoozham [Second Chance] (Malayalam)
1996 : Mahasweta Devi – Hajar Churashir Ma (Bengali)
1997 : Ali Sardar Jafri - Urdu
1998 : Girish Karnad --for contributions to Kannada Literature and for contribution to Kannada theater (Yayati)
1999 : Gurdial Singh -- for his contribution to Hindi Literature(Hndi)
2000 : Indira Goswami -- For writing about the subalterns and marginalised &contribution in Assamese literature (Assamese).
2001 : Rajendra Shah -- For his contribution in Gujarati literature (Gujarati).
2002 : D. Jayakanthan--For his contribution in Tamil literature (Tamil).
2003 : Vinda Karandikar -- For his contributions to Marathi literature (Marathi).
2004 : Rahman Rahi -- For his contribution in Kashmiri literature. Few of his famous books are Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and Siyah Rode Jaren Manz.(Kashmiri).
2005 : Kunwar Narayan -- For overall contribution in Hindi literature (Hindi).
2006 : Ravindra Kelekar -- For his contribution in Konkani literature ( Konkani).
2006 : Satya Vrat Shastri -- For his contribution in Sanskrit literature (Sanskrit).
2007 : Dr. O. N. V. Kurup -- for his contributions to Malayalam literature (Malayalam).
2008 : Akhlaq Mohammed Khan ‘Shahryar’ --For his contribution in Urdu literature(Urdu).
2009 : Shrilal Shukla -- For his contribution in Hindi literature (Hindi).
2009 : Amar Kant --For his contribution in Hindi literature (Hindi).
2010 : Chandrashekhara Kambara -- For his contributions to Kannada literature (Kannada).
2011 : Pratibha Ray -- For her book Yajnaseni.(Oriya).
2012 : Ravuri Bharadhwaja -- For his notable contribution to Telugu literature.( Telugu).
2013 : Kedarnath Singh-- For his notable contribution to Hindi literature. 'Abhi bilkul abhi' and 'Yahan se dekho' are among his prominent works 'Abhi bilkul abhi' and 'Yahan se dekho' are among his prominent works. (Hindi).
2014 : Bhalchandra Nemade (50th Jnanpith award) -- Hindu: Jagnyachi Samrudhha Adgal (Marathi).
2015 : Raghuveer Chaudhary -- Contribution to Gujarati poetry, novels including trilogy (Uparvaas), Rudra Mahalaya, Venu Vatsala (Gujarati).
2016 : Shankha Ghosh -- Adim Lata – Gulmomay, Murkho Baro, Samajik Noy, Baborer Prarthana(Bengali).
2017 : Krishna Sobti -- Zindaginama (Hindi).
2018 : Amitav Ghosh -- For his “outstanding contribution to the enrichment of Indian Literature in English” (English).
2019 : Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri --
For his literary excellence has footprints in genre like drama, reminiscence, critical essays, children literature, short stories and translations. Some of his celebrated creations include Veeravadam, Balidarsanam, Nimisha Kshethram, Amrita Khatika, Akkitham Kavithaka, Epic of Twentieth Century and Antimahakalam (Malayalam).