The Jnanpith Award is a prestigious literary award in India, given annually to an author for their outstanding contributions to literature. The award has been given since 1961 in various Indian languages. The most recent recipients of the award for the years 2019, 2020/21, and 2022 are:
- 2019: Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri for his contributions to Malayalam literature
- 2020/21: Nilamani Phookan for his contributions to Assamese literature
- 2022: Damodar Mauzo for his contributions to Konkani literature.
To obtain further information and a comprehensive list of previous winners, please refer to this article. Furthermore, you can also discover which language has received the most Jnanpith awards and all relevant facts pertaining to the Jnanpith award, also known as the Gayanpith award.
About Jnanpith Award
▪ The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and highest Indian literary award, which is presented annually by Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their outstanding contributions to literature.
Jnanpith Award Pronunciation
▪ The Jnanpith award is correctly pronounced as the Gyanpeeth award.
▪ The name Jnanpith is derived from the Sanskrit words “Jnana” and “Pitha” which means “knowledge-seat”.
Jnanpith award is given for which field
▪ The Jnanpith Award is the most prestigious and oldest Indian literary award, which is presented annually by Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their “outstanding contribution towards literature”.
▪ The award is given to Indian writers writing in any of the Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India and in English.
In which year jnanpith award was started
▪ The Jnanpith award was established in 1961. The first recipient of the award was the Malayalam writer G. Sankara Kurup.
▪ He received the award in 1965 for his collection of poems, Odakkuzhal (The Bamboo Flute), published in 1950.
Who gives Jnanpith Award?
▪ The Jnanpith Award is given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary and research organization based in India. Founded in 1944.
▪ It was founded by industrialist Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain family. The organization promotes literary and cultural activities in India.
Prize money of Jnanpith award
▪ The Jnanpith Award comes with a cash prize of 11 Lakh Indian Rupees (INR), a citation plaque, and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati), the goddess of learning. This prestigious award is given to Indian citizens for their outstanding contributions to literature.
Jnanpith Award in a Nutshell
| All major facts about Jnanpith Award | |
|---|---|
| Category of award | Literature |
| Description | Oldest and highest Indian literary award |
| Given for | Outstanding contributions to literature |
| Establishment year | 1961 |
| First Awarded in | 1965 |
| First winner | G Shankar Kurup (Malayalam) |
| Latest winner (2022) | Damodar Mauzo (Konkani) |
| Prize money | 11 lakh INR |
| First woman winner | Ashapurna Devi (Bengali) |
| The Award Given by | Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary and research organization |
| Bharatiya Jnanpith established in | 1944 |
Jnanpith Award Major Facts Infographic
Latest Jnanpith Award winner
57th Jnanpith Award 2022
▪ Question: Who has been conferred the 57th Jnanpith Award 2022?
☛ Answer: Damodar Mauzo
Key Points:
• Eminent Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo has been conferred with the 57th Jnanpith Award in 2021.
• Eminent Mauzo is the second Konkani writer to receive the highest literary award after Ravindra Kelekar.
• First ever Konkani writer who was awarded the Jnanpith award was Ravindra Kelekar, He won the 42nd Jnanpith award in 2006.
• The Jnanpith Award is presented annually by Bhartiya Jnanpith.
• Eminent Mauzo is a short story writer, novelist, columnist, and screenplay writer.
• He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Karmelin in 1983.
Notable works of Damodar Mauzo
| Short Fiction | Novels | Children’s Books | Biographical |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gathon (1971) | Sood (1975) | Ek Ashillo Babulo (1976) | Oshe Godle Shenoy Goembaab (2003) |
| Zagranna (1975) | Karmelin (1981) | Kani Eka Khomsachi (1977) | Unch Haves Unch Mathem (2003) |
| Rumad Ful (1989) | Tsunami Simon (2009) | Chittarangi (1995) | A Documentary film titled ‘Bhai Mauzo’ (2014) |
56th Jnanpith Award 2021
▪ Question 2: Who has conferred the 56th Jnanpith Award for the year 2021, in April 2022?
☛ Answer: Nilamani Phookan
Key Points:
▪ Nilmani Phookan is an Indian poet in the Assamese language.
▪ His notable works include Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi, Gulapi Jamur Lagna, and Kobita.
▪ He was awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection.
▪ He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1990.
▪ Also, received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honor in India, India’s National Academy of Letters in 2002 for “the immortals of literature”.
▪ In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Dibrugarh University.
▪ So far, Three Assamese writers have received the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India: Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya (15th Jnanpith Award, 1979), Mamoni Raisom Goswami (36th Jnanpith Award, 2000), and Nilamani Phookan (56th Jnanpith Award, 2021).
55th Jnanpith Award 2019
▪ Question 3: Who has conferred the 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019?
☛ Answer: Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri
Key Points
▪ Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri popularly known as Akkitham.
▪ He was a Malayalam poet and essayist who received the 55th Jnanpith award in 2019.
▪ Some of his eminent works included Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (English: Epic of the 20th century), Balidarshanam (English: The Vision of Bali), and Nimisha Kshetram (English: Holy moment).
▪ Notable awards received by Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri
| Award / Honour | Year |
|---|---|
| Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry | 1972 |
| Odakkuzhal Award | 1973 |
| Sahitya Akademi Award | 1973 |
| Aasan Prize | 1994 |
| Lalitambika Sahitya Award | 1996 |
| Vallathol Award | 1997 |
| Ezhuthachan Puraskaram | 2008 |
| Vayalar Award | 2012 |
| Padma Shri | 2017 |
| Jnanpith Award | 2019 |
| O. N. V. Literary Award | 2019 |
Full list of Jnanpith Awards Winners (1965 to 2022)
| Year | Recipient(s) | Language(s) |
| 1965 (1st) | G. Sankara Kurup | Malayalam |
| 1966 (2nd) | Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay | Bengali |
| 1967 (3rd) | Umashankar Joshi | Gujarati |
| 1967 (3rd) | Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa ‘Kuvempu’ | Kannada |
| 1968 (4th) | Sumitranandan Pant | Hindi |
| 1969 (5th) | Firaq Gorakhpuri | Urdu |
| 1970 (6th) | Viswanatha Satyanarayana | Telugu |
| 1971 (7th) | Bishnu Dey | Bengali |
| 1972 (8th) | Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ | Hindi |
| 1973 (9th) | D. R. Bendre | Kannada |
| 1973 (9th) | Gopinath Mohanty | Odia |
| 1974 (10th) | Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar | Marathi |
| 1975 (11th) | Akilan | Tamil |
| 1976 (12th) | Ashapoorna Devi | Bengali |
| 1977 (13th) | K. Shivaram Karanth | Kannada |
| 1978 (14th) | Sachchidananda Vatsyayan | Hindi |
| 1979 (15th) | Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya | Assamese |
| 1980 (16th) | S. K. Pottekkatt | Malayalam |
| 1981 (17th) | Amrita Pritam | Punjabi |
| 1982 (18th) | Mahadevi Varma | Hindi |
| 1983 (19th) | Masti Venkatesha Iyengar | Kannada |
| 1984 (20th) | Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai | Malayalam |
| 1985 (21st) | Pannalal Patel | Gujarati |
| 1986 (22nd) | Sachidananda Routray | Odia |
| 1987 (23rd) | Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar ‘Kusumagraj’ | Marathi |
| 1988 (24th) | C. Narayana Reddy | Telugu |
| 1989 (25th) | Qurratulain Hyder | Urdu |
| 1990 (26th) | Vinayaka Krishna Gokak | Kannada |
| 1991 (27th) | Subhash Mukhopadhyay | Bengali |
| 1992 (28th) | Naresh Mehta | Hindi |
| 1993 (29th) | Sitakant Mahapatra | Odia |
| 1994 (30th) | U. R. Ananthamurthy | Kannada |
| 1995 (31st) | M. T. Vasudevan Nair | Malayalam |
| 1996 (32nd) | Mahasweta Devi | Bengali |
| 1997 (33rd) | Ali Sardar Jafri | Urdu |
| 1998 (34th) | Girish Karnad | Kannada |
| 1999 (35th) | Nirmal Verma | Hindi |
| 1999 (35th) | Gurdial Singh | Punjabi |
| 2000 (36th) | Mamoni Raisom Goswami | Assamese |
| 2001 (37th) | Rajendra Shah | Gujarati |
| 2002 (38th) | Jayakanthan | Tamil |
| 2003 (39th) | Vinda Karandikar | Marathi |
| 2004 (40th) | Rehman Rahi | Kashmiri |
| 2005 (41st) | Kunwar Narayan | Hindi |
| 2006 (42nd) | Ravindra Kelekar | Konkani |
| 2006 (42nd) | Satya Vrat Shastri | Sanskrit |
| 2007 (43rd) | O. N. V. Kurup | Malayalam |
| 2008 (44th) | Akhlaq Mohammed Khan ‘Shahryar’ | Urdu |
| 2009 (45th) | Amarkant | Hindi |
| 2009 (45th) | Sri Lal Sukla | Hindi |
| 2010 (46th) | Chandrashekhara Kambara | Kannada |
| 2011 (47th) | Pratibha Ray | Odia |
| 2012 (48th) | Ravuri Bharadhwaja | Telugu |
| 2013 (49th) | Kedarnath Singh | Hindi |
| 2014 (50th) | Bhalchandra Nemade | Marathi |
| 2015 (51st) | Raghuveer Chaudhari | Gujarati |
| 2016 (52nd) | Shankha Ghosh | Bengali |
| 2017 (53rd) | Krishna Sobti | Hindi |
| 2018 (54th) | Amitav Ghosh | English |
| 2019 (55th) | Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri | Malayalam |
| 2021 (56th) | Nilamani Phookan | Assamese |
| 2022 (57th) | Damodar Mauzo | Konkani |
Jnanpith Award Winners in Bengali
| Sl No | Name | Works | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay | Ganadevta | 1966 |
| 2 | Bishnu Dey | Smriti Satta Bhavishyat | 1971 |
| 3 | Ashapoorna Devi | Pratham Pratisruti | 1976 |
| 4 | Subhash Mukhopadhyay | Padatik | 1991 |
| 5 | Mahasweta Devi | Hajar Churashir Maa | 1996 |
| 6 | Shankha Ghosh | For exceptional contribution in the field of literature. | 2016 |
Number of award recipients by language
▪ Which language has received the most Janpath awards?
☛ As of 2022, Hindi has received the most Jnanpith awards with a total of 11 awarded in the language. You can find the list below.
▪ Assamese – 3 times
▪ Konkani – 2 times
▪ Malayalam – 6 times
▪ Bengali – 6 times
▪ English – 1 time
▪ Gujarati – 4 times
▪ Hindi – 11 times
▪ Marathi – 4 times
▪ Kannada – 8 times
▪ Telugu – 3 times
▪ Urdu – 4 times
▪ Odia – 4 times
• The Jnanpith Award has only been given once to an English-language writer, Amitav Ghosh, in 2018.
• In 2018, Amitav Ghosh received the prestigious 54th Jnanpith Award for his exceptional literary contributions in the English language.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Answer: Eminent Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo has been conferred with the 57th Jnanpith Award in 2021.
Answer: Nilamani Phookan has been conferred with the 56th Jnanpith Award in 2020.
Answer: G. Sankara Kurup (in 1965)
Answer: Until 2021, the majority of Jnanpith Awards had been presented for works in the Hindi language. However, up until that point, the Jnanpith Award had only been granted in English once. In 2018, Amitav Ghosh was honored as the recipient of the 54th Jnanpith Award for his contributions to English literature.
Answer: Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their “outstanding contribution towards literature”.
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