Jnanpith award winners for literature

    India  2003.10.09

    In issue: Stamp(s): 3   

  • Number by catalogue:  Yvert: 1747   Scott: 2025c  

    Perforation type: 13x13

    Subject:

    5 rupees. Portrait of Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai*, Wheel of watermill

    Additional:

    The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country. It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of The Times of India newspaper.

    *Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (17 April 1912 - 10 April 1999) was a novelist and short story writer of Malayalam. He is popularly known as Thakazhi, after his place of birth. He focused on the oppressed classes as the subject of his works, which are known for their attention to historic detail. He has written several novels and over 600 short stories. His most famous works are Kayar (Coir, 1978) and Chemmeen (Prawns, 1956; film adaptation, 1965). He was awarded the Indian government's highest literary award, the Jnanpith in 1984.