Context

• Recently the Jnanpith Awards for the year 2023 were announced.
• This year, Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya will be honored for Sanskrit and Gulzar ji will be honored for Urdu.

Key Points

Gulzar

• Gulzar was born on 18 August 1936 in Dina, District Jhelum, Pakistan.
• Major works are Pukhraj, Ek Boond Chand, Chauras Raat, Ravi Paar, Kuch Aur Nazman, Yaar Julahe etc.
• Gulzar's full name is Sampooran Singh Kalra.
• He is the creator of Triveni verses. Apart from this he is a poet, lyricist and film director.
• Gulzar's first song was 'Mora Gora Ang Lai Le' from Bimal Roy's film Bandini.
• He received 3 National Awards and 47 Filmfare Awards for the films Moshay, Mausam and Ijaazat.
• Apart from this, he also received Padma Bhushan in 2004 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013.

Swami Rambhadracharya

• He was born on 14 January 1950 in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
• His real name is Giridhar Mishra.
• He is one of the present four Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas of Ramananda sect and has been holding this post since 1988 AD.
• He is the founder and lifetime Chancellor of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakoot.
• This university offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses and degrees only to students with quadruple disabilities.
• He is a polyglot. He has authored more than 80 books and texts, including four epics (two in Sanskrit and two in Hindi), a Hindi commentary on the Ramcharitmanas, a poetic Sanskrit commentary on the Ashtadhyayi and a Sanskrit commentary on the Prasthanatrayi (Brahmasutra, Bhagavad Gita and Pradhana Upanishads).
• He is counted among India's best experts on Tulsidas.

Jnanpith Award

• India's highest literary award
• This award can be awarded only to an Indian citizen.
• This award is given to Indian literary talents from different languages who have contributed excellent works and creations to Indian literature.
• The award is presented in English along with other languages mentioned in the Constitution of India (8th Schedule).
• The award carries a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a citation and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati), the goddess of knowledge.
• The award was instituted in 1961 and was first given in 1965 to a Malayalam poet, G. Shankar Kurup, for this anthology of poems titled Odakkuzhal.
• First English language writer to win the Jnanpith Award – Amitav Ghosh (2018)
• This award is not awarded posthumously.

Other literary awards

• Some other literary awards given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith include the Gyannagarima Award, Murtidevi Award and the Navlekhan Award.