Saraswati Samman
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. It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati.
The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. It consists of ₹15,00,000, a citation and a plaque. 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.
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, Govind Chandra Pande, and Veerappa Moily -- 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 ' | Hindi | ||
| 1992 | Ramakant Rath | "Sri Radha" ' | Odia | ||
| 1993 | Vijay Tendulkar | "Kanyadaan" ' | Marathi | ||
| 1994 | Harbhajan Singh | "Rukh Te Rishi" ' | Punjabi | ||
| 1995 | Balamani Amma | "Nivedyam" ' | Malayalam | ||
| 1996 | Shamsur Rahman Faruqi | "She`r-e Shor-Angez" | Urdu | ||
| 1997 | Manubhai Pancholi | "Kurukshetra" | Gujarati | ||
| 1998 | Shankha Ghosh | "Gandharba Kabita Guccha" ' | Bengali | ||
| 1999 | – | Indira Parthasarathy | "Ramanujar" ' | Tamil | |
| 2000 | Manoj Das | "Amruta Phala" ' | Odia | ||
| 2001 | Dalip Kaur Tiwana | "Katha Kaho Urvashi" ' | Punjabi | ||
| 2002 | Mahesh Elkunchwar | "Yugant" ' | Marathi | ||
| 2003 | Govind Chandra Pande | "Bhagirathi" ' | Sanskrit | ||
| 2004 | Sunil Gangopadhyay | "Pratham Alo" ' | Bengali | ||
| 2005 | K. Ayyappa Panicker | "Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal" ' | Malayalam | ||
| 2006 | Jagannath Prasad Das | "Parikrama" ' | Odia | ||
| 2007 | Naiyer Masud | "Taoos Chaman Ki Myna" ' | Urdu | ||
| 2008 | Lakshmi Nandan Bora | "Kayakalpa" ' | Assamese | ||
| 2009 | Surjit Paatar | "Lafzan Di Dargah" | Punjabi | ||
| 2010 | S. L. Bhyrappa | "Mandra" | Kannada | ||
| 2011 | A. A. Manavalan | "Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum" | Tamil | ||
| 2012 | Sugathakumari | "Manalezhuthu" ' | Malayalam | ||
| 2013 | Govind Mishra | "Dhool Paudho Par" ' | Hindi | ||
| 2014 | Veerappa Moily | "Ramayana Mahanveshanam" ' | Kannada | ||
| 2015 | Padma Sachdev | "Chitt-Chete" ' | Dogri | ||
| 2016 | Mahabaleshwar Sail | "Hawthan" ' | Konkani | ||
| 2017 | Sitanshu Yashaschandra | "Vakhar" ' | Gujarati | ||
| 2018 | K [Siva Reddy] | "Pakkaki Ottigilite" | Telugu | ||
| 2019 | Vasdev Mohi | "Chequebook" | Sindhi | ||
| 2020 | Sharankumar Limbale | "Sanatan" | Marathi | ||
| 2021 | Ram Darash Mishra | "Main to Yahan Hun" ' | Hindi | ||
| 2022 | Sivasankari | "Surya Vamsam" ' | Tamil | ||
| 2023 | Prabha Varma | "Roudra Sathwikam" | Malayalam | ||
| 2024 | Bhadreshdas Swami | "Swaminarayana Siddhanta Sudha" | Sanskrit |
Recipients by language
Saraswati Samman has been presented for works in sixteen 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 |