The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award on renowned writer, Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari at a function held at Parliament Library Building, New Delhi.
Dr. Chaudhari represents the fluid brilliance that characterizes India’s pluralistic literary genius. It is indeed an example of his brilliant fluidity that an author, who strove to master Hindi academically, expressed himself in Gujarati in his literary pursuit.
He was awarded with the India’s highest literary honour carrying a cash prize, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati for the year 2015.
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith and is given to an author for the “outstanding contribution towards literature”, Instituted in 1961.
- The award is bestowed only on the Indian writers who have been writing in Indian languages included in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution of India and English, with no posthumous conferral.
- As of 2015, the award comprises a citation plaque, a cash prize of 11 lakh (US$16,000), and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom.
- The first recipient of the award was Malayalam litterateur Sankara Kurup who was awarded in 1965 for his collection of poems, Odakkuzhal (The Bamboo Flute), published in 1950.
- As of 2015, out of twenty-three eligible languages, the award has been conferred upon the works in fifteen languages.
About Raghuveer Chaudhary
Raghuveer Chaudhari is a Gujarati novelist, poet and critic . He has also worked as a columnist for numerous newspapers, such as Sandesh, Janmabhumi, Nirikshaka and Divya Bhaskar. His most significant contributions have been in Gujarati language but he has also written Hindi articles.
- He was born on 5 December 1938 in Bapupura near Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
- He received a A. in 1960 and M.A. in Hindi language and literature in 1962 from Gujarat University. In 1979, Chaudhari also received a PhD for his Comparative Study of Hindi and Gujarati Verbal Roots at the same university.
- He was a teacher at the Gujarat University until his retirement in 1998.
- He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977.
- He has authored more than 80 books and some of his notable novels include Amrita, Venu Vatsala, Uparvas, Purvarang and Laagni Samjyaa Vinaa Chuuta Padvanu.
