Saraswati Samman

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The Saraswati Samman (सरस्वती सम्मान), is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any Indian language. It is named after an Indian goddess of learning and is considered to be among the highest literary awards in India. It includes a monetary award of Rs five lakh (as of 2006). The Saraswati Samman instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation.

The candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous ten years by a panel that included scholars and former award winners. The selected work must have been written in a language listed as an Indian language in the Indian Constitution.

[edit] Awardees

• 1991 - Harivanshrai 'Bachchan' for his autobiography in four volumes
• 1992 - Ramakant Rath
• 1993 - Vijay Tendulkar
• 1994 - Harbhajan Singh
• 1995 - Balamani Amma for poetry collection Nivedyam
• 1996 - Shamsur Rahman Faruqi for She`r-e Shor-Angez
• 1997 - Manubhai Pancholi
• 1998 - Sanka Ghosh
• 1999 - Indira Parthasarathy
• 2000 - Manoj Das for his novel Amrita Phala (The Nectar Fruit)
• 2001 - Dalip Kaur Tiwana for her novel Katha Kaho Urvashi
• 2002 - Mahesh Elkunchwar for his play Yugant
• 2003 - Govind Chandra Pande for his collection of 163 Sanskrit poems entitled Bhagirathi
• 2004 - Sunil Gangopadhyay for his novel Pratham Alo
• 2005 - K. Ayyappa Panicker for his collection of poems Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal

[edit] References

• "Saraswati Samman for Dalip Kaur Tiwana" Tribune News Service (24 January 2002);
• "Harivansh Rai Bachchan" LitGloss
• "Hindu groups plan protest" The Pioneer April 2006
• Choudhury, Ashok K "Manoj Das: True interpreter of India's cultural and spiritual heritage" Daily Excelsior (17 June 2001)
• "Saraswati Samman for Prof K Ayyappa Paniker" Asia Net Global (17 Feb 2006) retrieved on March 4, 2006