The award is only given to Indian writers writing in Indian languages (included in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution of India) and English.Jnanpith Award was given only for single work till 1982. After 1982, it is given for lifetime contribution to Indian literature as well.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 11 lakh and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.
List of Recipients
| Year | Recipient | Language |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | G.Sankara Kuruup | Malayalam |
| 1966 | Tara Shankar Banerjee | Bengali |
| 1967 | Dr.K.V.Puttappa | Kannada |
| 1967 | Umashankar Joshi | Gujarati |
| 1968 | Sumitranand Pant | Hindi |
| 1969 | Firaq Gorakhpuri | Hindi |
| 1970 | Dr.Viswanatha Satynarayana | Telugu |
| 1971 | Bishnu Dey | Bengali |
| 1972 | Dr.Ramdhari Singh Dinkar | Hindi |
| 1973 | Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre | Kannada |
| 1973 | Gopinath Mohanty | Oriya |
| 1974 | Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar | Marathi |
| 1975 | P.V.Akhilanadam (Akhilan) | Tamil |
| 1976 | Ashapoorna Devi | Bengali |
| 1977 | Dr.K.Shivarama Karanth | Kannada |
| 1978 | S.H.Vatsyayan | Hindi |
| 1979 | Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya | Assamese |
| 1980 | S.K.Pottakkatt | Malayalam |
| 1981 | Amrita Pritam | Panjabi |
| 1982 | Mahadevi Verma | Hindi |
| 1983 | Dr.Masti Venkatesh Iyengar | Kannada |
| 1984 | Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai | Malayalam |
| 1985 | Pannalal Patel | Gujarati |
| 1986 | Satchidanand Rautroy | Oriya |
| 1987 | V.V.Shiwadkar | Marathi |
| 1988 | Dr.C.Narayana Reddy | Telugu |
| 1989 | Qurratul-ain-Haider | Urdu |
| 1990 | Vinayak Krishna Gokak | Kannada |
| 1991 | Subhas Mukhopadhyay | Bengali |
| 1992 | Naresh Mehta | Hindi |
| 1993 | Sitahanth Mahapatra | Oriya |
| 1994 | U.R.Anantha Murthy | Kannada |
| 1995 | M.T.Vasudevan Nair | Malayalam |
| 1996 | Mahasweta Devi | Bengali |
| 1997 | Ali Sardar Jafri | Urdu |
| 1998 | Girish Karnad | Kannada |
| 1999 | Nirmal Verma | Hindi |
| 1999 | Gurdayal Singh | Punjabi |
| 2000 | Indira Goswami | Assamese |
| 2001 | Rajendra Keshavlal Shah | Gujarati |
| 2002 | D.Jayakanthan | Tamil |
| 2003 | Vinda Karandikar | Marathi |
| 2004 | Rahman Rahi | Kashmiri |
| 2005 | Kunwar Narayan | Hindi |
| 2006 | Satya Vrat Shastri | Sanskrit |
| 2006 | Ravindra Kelekar | Konkani |
| 2007 | O.N.V.Kurup | Malayalam |
| 2008 | Akhlaq Mohammed Khan | Urdu |
| 2009 | Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla | Hindi |
| 2010 | Chandrasekhar Kambar | Kannada |
| 2011 | Prathibha Rai | Oriya |
| 2012 | Ravuri Bharadhwaja | Telugu |
| 2013 | Kedarnath Singh | Hindi |
| 2014 | Bhalchandra Nemade | Marathi |
| 2015 | Raghuveer Chaudhari | Gujarati |
| 2016 | Shankha Ghosh | Bengali |
| 2017 | Krishna Sobti | Hindi |
| 2018 | Amitab Ghosh | English |
| 2019 [55th] | Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri | Malayalam |
| 2021 | Nilmani Phukan | Assamese |
| 2022 | Damodar Mauzo | Konkani |
| 2023 [58th] | Gulzar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya | Urdu Sanskrit |
SideNotes:
- Instituted on – 22 May 1961
- No. of Malayalam writers who have received the Jnanpith so far – 6.
- 1965 – G. Shankara Kurup (Odakkuzhal)
- 1980 – S.K. Pottekkatt (Oru Desathinte Katha)
- 1984 – Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Kayar)
- 1995 – M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Overall Contribution)
- 2007 – O.N.V. Kurup (Overall Contribution)
- 2019 – Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri
- First Malayali to win the Jnanpith Award – G. Sankara Kurup.
- G. Shanakara Kurup is also known as – 'Mahakavi G'
- Birth place of G. Shanakara Kurup – Nayathode (Ernakulam).
- First Mystic Poet in Kerala – G. Sankara Kurup.
- Jnanpith award winner who became a member of Rajya Sabha – G. Sankara Kurup (1968).
- Autobiography – Ormmayude Olangalil.
- First Poet to become a member of Rajya Sabha – Maithilisharan Gupta (1952).
- First novelist to win Jnanapith Award – Tharashankar Banerjee (1966)
- First Malayali novelist to win the Jnanpith Award – S. K Pottekkatt (1980, Shankaran Kutty Pottekkatt) (G. Shankara Kurup was a poet).
- Only Jnanpith award winner to become a member of Lok Sabha – S.K. Pottekkatt. (Kannur, 1962)
- Most no. of travelogues in Malayalam were written by – S.K. Pottekkatt.
- First woman recipient of Jnanpith Award – Ashapoorna Devi (Bengali Writer).
- First English language writer to receive the award – Amitab Ghosh (2018).
- Jnanpith winner who was the Vice-Chancellor of MG University – Prof. U.R. Anantha Murthy (1994)
- Malayalam writer to win Jnanpith Award for his overall contribution in Malayalam literature on 1995 – M. T Vasudevan Nair (Madathil Thekkepattu Vasudevan Nair).
- Bharatiya Jnanpith is a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of The Times of India Newspaper. It was founded in 1944 by industrialist and philanthropist Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain.
- Famous Works of Akkitham:
- Akkitham Kavithakal
- Arangettam,
- Veeravadam,
- Antimahakalam,
- Nimisha Kshethram,
- Idinju Polinja Lokam,
- Balidarsanam,
- Amrita Khatika,
- Kalikkottilil &
- Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (Epic of Twentieth Century)
- Awards won by Akkitham so far – Padmasree, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (1972 and 1988), Sahitya Akademi Award (1973), Aasan Prize(1994), Vallathol Award, Vayalar Award (2012 - Anthimahakalam), Odakkuzhal Award (1973 - Nimisha Kshethram), Ezhuthachan Award (2008), Nalappad Award, Mathrubhumi Award, KrishnaGeedhi Award, and Kabir Samman.