Saraswati Samman

Saraswati Samman
Sponsored by	K. K. Birla Foundation [1]
Date	1991;34 years ago (1991)
Location	Delhi
Country	India
Reward(s)	₹15,00,000
Most recent winner	Bhadreshdas Swami
Highlights
Total awarded	34
First winner	Harivansh Rai Bachchan

The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 23 languages of India listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. ^{[1] [2]} It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. ^[2]

The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. It consists of ₹15,00,000, ^[3] a citation and a plaque. ^{[1] [2] [4]} Candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous ten years by a panel that included scholars and former award winners. The inaugural award was given to Harivanshrai 'Bachchan' for his four volume autobiography, Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon, Needa Ka Nirman Phir, Basere Se Door and Dashdwar se Sopan Tak. ^[5]

Shankha Ghosh, the 1998 recipient of Saraswati Samman, went on to win India's highest literary honor Jnanpith Award in 2016. Three recipients of Saraswati Samman -- Manubhai Pancholi (1997), Govind Chandra Pande (2003), and Veerappa Moily (2014) -- received Moortidevi Award, considered the second highest after the Jnanpith Award, in 1987, 2000, and 2007, respectively.

Awardees

Year	Image	Recipient	Work	Language	Ref.
1991		Harivansh Rai Bachchan	Autobiography in four volumes (Autobiography)	Hindi	[2] [6]
1992		Ramakant Rath	"Sri Radha" (Poetry)	Odia	[2]
1993		Vijay Tendulkar	"Kanyadaan" (Play)	Marathi	[2]
1994		Harbhajan Singh	"Rukh Te Rishi" (Poetry collection)	Punjabi	[2]
1995		Balamani Amma	"Nivedyam" (Poetry collection)	Malayalam	[2]
1996		Shamsur Rahman Faruqi	"She`r-e Shor-Angez"	Urdu	[2]
1997		Manubhai Pancholi	"Kurukshetra"	Gujarati	[2]
1998		Shankha Ghosh	"Gandharba Kabita Guccha" (Poetry collection)	Bengali	[2]
1999	–	Indira Parthasarathy	"Ramanujar" (Play)	Tamil	[2]
2000		Manoj Das	"Amruta Phala" (Novel)	Odia	[2] [7]
2001		Dalip Kaur Tiwana	"Katha Kaho Urvashi" (Novel)	Punjabi	[2] [8]
2002		Mahesh Elkunchwar	"Yugant" (Play)	Marathi	[2]
2003	–	Govind Chandra Pande	"Bhagirathi" (Poetry collection)	Sanskrit	[2]
2004		Sunil Gangopadhyay	"Pratham Alo" (Novel)	Bengali	[2]
2005		K. Ayyappa Panicker	"Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal" (Poetry collection)	Malayalam	[2] [9]
2006		Jagannath Prasad Das	"Parikrama" (Poetry collection)	Odia	[10]
2007		Naiyer Masud	"Taoos Chaman Ki Myna" (Short stories collection)	Urdu	[11] [12]
2008		Lakshmi Nandan Bora	"Kayakalpa" (Novel)	Assamese	[13]
2009		Surjit Paatar	"Lafzan Di Dargah"	Punjabi	[14]
2010		S. L. Bhyrappa	"Mandra"	Kannada	[4]
2011	–	A. A. Manavalan	"Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum"	Tamil	[15]
2012		Sugathakumari	"Manalezhuthu" (Poetry collection)	Malayalam	[16]
2013		Govind Mishra	"Dhool Paudho Par" (Novel)	Hindi	[17]
2014		Veerappa Moily	"Ramayana Mahanveshanam" (Poetry)	Kannada	[18]
2015		Padma Sachdev	"Chitt-Chete" (Autobiography)	Dogri	[ citation needed ]
2016		Mahabaleshwar Sail	"Hawthan" (Novel)	Konkani	[19]
2017		Sitanshu Yashaschandra	"Vakhar" (Poetry collection)	Gujarati	[20]
2018		K Siva Reddy	"Pakkaki Ottigilite" (Poetry)	Telugu	[21]
2019		Vasdev Mohi	"Chequebook" (Short Story Series)	Sindhi	[22]
2020		Sharankumar Limbale	"Sanatan" (Novel)	Marathi	[23]
2021		Ram Darash Mishra	"Main to Yahan Hun" (Poetry)	Hindi	[24]
2022		Sivasankari	"Surya Vamsam" (Memoir)	Tamil	[25]
2023		Prabha Varma	"Roudra Sathwikam" (Novel in verse)	Malayalam	[26]
2024		Bhadreshdas Swami	"Swaminarayana Siddhanta Sudha"	Sanskrit	[27]

Recipients by language

Saraswati Samman has been presented for works in ten languages. The 34 awardees from 1991 to 2024 wrote in the following languages:

Language	Number
Malayalam	4
Hindi	3
Marathi	3
Odia	3
Punjabi	3
Tamil	3
Bengali	2
Gujarati	2
Kannada	2
Sanskrit	2
Urdu	2
Assamese	1
Dogri	1
Konkani	1
Sindhi	1
Telugu	1
Bodo	0
English	0
Kashmiri	0
Maithili	0
Manipuri	0
Nepali	0
Santali	0

See also

• Jnanpith Award, considered India's highest literary honor that is conferred by the Bharatiya Jnanpith.
• Moortidevi Award, another annual literary honor, regarded as the second highest, ^[28] and also awarded by the Bharatiya Jnanpith.

Notes

1. "About Saraswati Samman". K.K. Birla Foundation. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
2. "Saraswati Samman for Prof Paniker". The Tribune. Chandigarh, India. 19 February 2006. Archived from the original on 16 December 2006.
3. "Padma Sachdev to get Saraswati Samman".
4. "Saraswati Samman for writer Bhyrappa". The Times of India . 6 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011.
5. "Saraswati Samman Recipients". K.K. Birla Foundation . Retrieved 2014-09-23.
6. "Harivansh Rai Bachchan". LitGloss, University at Buffalo. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.
7. Choudhury, Ashok K. (17 June 2001). "Manoj Das: True interpreter of India's cultural and spiritual heritage". Daily Excelsior. Jammu and Kashmir, India. Archived from the original on 1 July 2001.
8. "Saraswati Samman for Dalip Kaur Tiwana". The Tribune. Chandigarh, India. 24 January 2002. Archived from the original on 13 February 2002.
9. Joshua, Anita (18 February 2006). "Saraswati Samman for Ayyappa Paniker, Malayalam poet". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
10. "Saraswati Samman for eminent Oriya writer". The Hindu . 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007.
11. "Saraswati Samman for Urdu author". The Hindu . 15 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008.
12. "I view the whole story like a movie: Naiyer Masud". The Tribune . Chandigarh, India. 24 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06.
13. ""Kayakalpa" gets Saraswati Samman". The Hindu. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
14. "Punjabi poet Surjit Patar gets Saraswati Samman". The Hindu. 19 September 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
15. "Honour for Tamil writer". The Hindu. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
16. "Award for Sugathakumari". The Hindu. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
17. "Govind Mishra gets Saraswati Samman 2013 for novel 'Dhool Paudhon Par'". Daily News & Analysis. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014.
18. "M. Veerappa Moily bags prestigious Saraswati Samman 2014". english.dcbooks.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
19. "Konkani author Mahabaleshwar Sail gets Saraswati Samman | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India . 9 March 2017.
20. PTI (2018-04-27). "Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandras "Vakhar" chosen for Saraswati Samman". India Today. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
21. "K Siva Reddy to get Saraswati Samman". Hindustan Times, New Delhi. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
22. "Meet the author, Vasdev Mohi" (PDF). sahitya-akademi.gov.in.
23. "Saraswati award conferred on Marathi Writer Limbale". The free press journal. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
24. "Ramdarash Mishra selected for Saraswati Samman 2021" . Retrieved 5 April 2022.
25. "Tamil writer Sivasankari to be awarded Saraswati Samman for memoir 'Surya Vamsam'". hindustantimes.com. 16 March 2023.
26. "Saraswati Samman for Malayalam poet Prabha Varma". onmanorama.com. 18 March 2024.
27. "Sanskrit scholar Bhadreshdas to be awarded Saraswati Samman 2024". 27 March 2025.
28. "Hara Parasad Das gets Moortidevi Award". www.dailypioneer.com. Retrieved 2025-08-21.

External links

• "Saraswati Samman webpage". K.K. Birla Foundation .
• "Saraswati Samman Recipients, Official listings". K.K. Birla Foundation .