SARASWATI SAMMAN

SARASWATI SAMMAN

The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. It carries a cash reward of Rs.10 lakh, a citation and a plaque. The award is given annually to an outstanding literary work (prose or poetry) written in any Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after an Indian goddess of learning (Maa Sarswati) and is considered to be among the highest literary awards in India. Candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous 10 years by a panel that included scholars and former award winners.  

List of Saraswati Samman Winners (1990-2013)

Year                Writer                              Work

1.      1990 - Ismat Chughtai for Urdu Literature

2.      1991 - Harivanshrai 'Bachchan' for his autobiography in four volumes

3.      1992 - Ramakant Rath for his poetry ShreeRadha

4.      1993 - Vijay Tendulkar

5.      1994 - Harbhajan Singh (Punjabi Poet)

6.      1995 - Balamani Amma for poetry collection Nivedyam

7.      1996 - Shamsur Rahman Faruqi for She`r-e Shor-Angez

8.      1997 - Manubhai Pancholi

9.      1998 - Shankha Ghosh for his anthology Gandharba Kabitaguccha

10.  1999 - Indira Parthasarathy

11.  2000 - Manoj Das for his novel Amruta Phala (The Nectar Fruit)

12.  2001 - Dalip Kaur Tiwana for her novel Katha Kaho Urvashi

13.  2002 - Mahesh Elkunchwar for his play Yugant

14.  2003 - Govind Chandra Pande for his collection of 163 Sanskrit poems entitled Bhagirathi

15.  2004 - Sunil Gangopadhyay for his novel Pratham Alo

16.  2005 - K. Ayyappa Panicker for his collection of poems Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal

17.  2006 - Jagannath Prasad Das for his collection of poems Parikrama

18.  2007 - Naiyer Masud for his collection of short stories Taoos Chaman Ki Myna (The Myna from Peacock Garden) written in Urdu

19.  2008 - Lakshmi Nandan Bora for his novel Kayakalpa

20.  2009 - Surjit Paatar for Lafzan Di Dargah

21.  2010 - S. L. Bhyrappa for Mandra

22.  2011 - A.A. Manavalan for Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum - Tamil

23.  2012 - Sugathakumari for the collection of her poems, titled 'Manalezhuthu’ in Malayalam.

24.  2013 - Govind Mishra for his book Dhool Paudho Par in Hindi was published in 2008.