The Saraswati Samman Award, which was instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation (a literary and cultural organisation) in 1991, is considered as one of the most prestigious literary awards in India. It is given for outstanding prose or poetry works in any of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and published during the preceding 10 years. It carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh, a citation and a plaque. The first recipient of the award was Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991.
The complete list of recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award is given below:
1991: Harivansh Rai Bachchan – Autobiography in four volumes (Autobiography) – Hindi
1992: Ramakant Rath – “Sri Radha” (Poetry) – Oriya
1993: Vijay Tendulkar – “Kanyadaan” (Play) – Marathi
1994: Harbhajan Singh – “Rukh Te Rishi” (Poetry collection) – Punjabi
1995: Balamani Amma – “Nivedyam” (Poetry collection) – Malayalam
1996: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi – “She`r-e Shor-Angez” – Urdu
1997: Manubhai Pancholi – “Kurukshetra” – Gujarati
1998: Shankha Ghosh – “Gandharba Kabita Guccha” (Poetry collection) – Bengali
1999: Indira Parthasarathy – “Ramanujar” (Play) – Tamil
2000: Manoj Das – “Amruta Phala” (Novel) – Oriya
2001: Dalip Kaur Tiwana – “Katha Kaho Urvashi” (Novel) – Punjabi
2002: Mahesh Elkunchwar – “Yugant” (Play) – Marathi
2003: Govind Chandra Pande – “Bhagirathi” (Poetry collection) – Sanskrit
2004: Sunil Gangopadhyay – “Pratham Alo” (Novel) – Bengali
2005: K. Ayyappa Panicker – “Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal” (Poetry collection) – Malayalam
2006: Jagannath Prasad Das – “Parikrama” (Poetry collection) – Oriya
2007: Naiyer Masud – “Taoos Chaman Ki Myna” (Short stories collection) – Urdu
2008: Lakshmi Nandan Bora – “Kayakalpa” (Novel) – Assamese
2009: Surjit Paatar – “Lafzan Di Dargah” – Punjabi
2010: S. L. Bhyrappa – “Mandra” – Kannada
2011: A. A. Manavalan – “Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum” – Tamil
2012: Sugatha kumari – “Manalezhuthu” (Poetry collection) – Malayalam
2013: Govind Mishra – “Dhool Paudho Par” (Novel) – Hindi
2014: Veerappa Moily – “Ramayana Mahanveshanam” (Poetry) – Kannada
2015: Padma Sachdev – “Chitt-Chete” (Autobiography) – Dogri
2016: Mahabaleshwar Sail – “Hawthan” (Novel) – Konkani
2017: Sitanshu Yashashchandra – “Vakhar” (Poetry) – Gujarati
2018: K. Siva Reddy – “Pakkaki Ottigilite” (Poetry) – Telugu
2019 : Vasdev Mohi – ‘Chequebook’ (Short Stories) – Sindhi
2020: Sharankumar – Limbale “Sanatan” (Novel) – Marathi
2021: Ram Darash Mishra – “Main to Yahan Hun” (Poetry) – Hindi
2022: Ms. Sivasankari – “Surya Vamsam” – Tamil
Besides the Saraswati Samman, the K.K. Birla Foundation has instituted four other awards namely: Vyas Samman, Bihari Puraskar, Shankar Puraskar and Vachaspati Puraskar.
Vyas Samman:
It is considered the second-highest literary honour in India after the Jnanpith Award, the Vyas Award recognises outstanding works of Hindi literature published in the past 10 years. It carries a cash prize of ₹4 lakh, a plaque as a memento and a citation outlining the recipient’s achievements. Some of the recent recipients of the Vyas Samman include: Pushpa Bharati (2023), Gyan Chaturvedi (2022), Asghar Wajahat (2021) and Sharad K. Pagare (2020).
Bihari Puraskar:
Named after the famous poet Bihari Lal of the Riti period, the Award is given for Hindi/Rajasthani works by Rajasthani writers and carries a cash prize of ₹2.5 lakh, a plaque and a citation.
In the year 1991, the famous poet Jaisingh Neeraj was awarded the first Bihari Award for his poetry compilation ‘Dhani Ka Aadmi’. Other previous recipients include :Yashwant Vyas, Alka Saraogi, Hemant Shesh, Giridhar Rathi, Arjun Dev Charan, Hari Ram Meena, Chandra Prakash Deval, Om Thanvi and Dr. Bhagwati Lal Vyas.
Some of the recent recipients of the Bihari Puraskar include the following:
32nd Bihari Puraskar (2022) – Madhu Kankariya
31st Bihari Puraskar (2021) – Dr Madhav Hada
30th Bihari Puraskar (2020) – Mohankrishna Bohara
29th Bihari Puraskar (2019) – Dr. Aidan Singh Bhati
28th Bihari Puraskar (2018) – Ms. Manisha Kulshreshtha
27th Bihari Puraskar (2017) – Vijay Verma
26th Bihari Puraskar (2016) – Dr. Satya Narayan
Shankar Puraskar:
Named after Adi Shankaracharya, it is given annually to recognise and honour individuals who have made significant contributions to Indian philosophy, art, and culture through their work in Hindi. It carries a cash award of ₹150,000. Some of the previous recipients include: Jaipur-based philosopher Biswambhar Pahi (2002) and Professor Ved Prakash Verma (2003).
Vachaspati Puraskar:
It is a literary award presented annually for outstanding literary works in Sanskrit. It carries a cash prize of ₹1.5 lakh and a citation.
The previous recipients of the Vachaspati Puraskar include the following:
| Year | Recipient | Book |
| 1996 | Shri Sribhashayam Vijayasarathi | Bharat Bharti |
| 1997 | Prof. Rewa Prasad Dwevedi | Svatantryasambhavam |
| 1998 | Dr. Baneshwar Pathak | Yeeshu Charitam |
| 1999 | Prof. Rasik Vihari Joshi | Sri Radha Pancasati |
| 2000 | Prof. N.S. Ramanuja Tatacharya | Pratyaksatattvacintamani-Vimarsa |
| 2001 | Dr. G.B. Palsule | Vainayakam |
| 2002 | Pt. Mohanlal Sharma Pandey | Padmini |
| 2003 | Dr. P. Sri Ramacharndrudu | Ko Vai Rasah |
| 2004 | Prof Ram Karan Sharma | Gagan Vani |
| 2005 | Acharya Ramyatna Shukla | Vyakarandarshane Srishtiprakriyavimarshah |
| 2006 | Dr. Bhaskaracharya Tripathi | Saaket Saurabham |
| 2007 | Swami Rambhadracharya | Sri Bhargavaraghviyam |
| 2008 | Hari Narayan Dixit | Radhacharitam |