Saraswati Samman

The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 22 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]

Saraswati Samman
Sponsored by	K. K. Birla Foundation[1]
Date	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 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]

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]