The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

awarded annually by the

ABP Group ABP Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established in 1922. History The company in recent years did mass layoffs at various times. Current assets Newspapers * ''Anandabazar Patrika'' � ...

to writers using

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, usually from

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

History

The award can be traced to a comment by

Annada Shankar Ray Annada Shankar Ray (15 March 1904 – 28 October 2002) was an Indian poet and essayist in Bengali. He also wrote some Odia poetry. He wrote several Bengali poems criticising the Partition of India. Most notable is "''Teler shishi bhaanglo bole k ...

ruing the absence of literary awards in Bengal. It was started on 20 April 1958 and has been given in the same month since. Initially, there were two awards, in memory of Prafulla Kumar Sarkar and Suresh Chandra Majumdar, the founders of ''

Anandabazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' (Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million cop ...

''. Another award was started in 1984 in memory of Ashok Kumar Sarkar to commemorate the golden jubilee of '' Desh''. All three awards were merged in 2000.

Awardees

*1958 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay (Prafulla Kumar Sarkar Memorial) *.......

Samaresh Basu Samaresh Basu (11 December 1924 – 12 March 1988) was a writer in modern Bengali literature, known for his versatility and vast range of themes. He wrote under the pen name ''Kalkut''. Basu was awarded the 1980 Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengal ...

(Suresh Chandra Majumdar Memorial) *1960 –

Pramathanath Bishi Pramatha Nath Bishi (11 June 1901 – 10 May 1985) was an Indian writer, educationist, and parliamentarian from West Bengal. He was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Council (1962–1968) and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1972 ...

– ''Kerry Saheber Munshi'' (novel) (Prafulla Kumar Sarkar Memorial) *1961 –

Syed Mujtaba Ali Syed Mujtaba Ali ( bn, সৈয়দ মুজতবা আলী; 13 September 1904 – 11 February 1974) was a Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist. He lived in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanistan ...

*1963 -

Kalidas Roy Kalidas Roy (1889–1975) was a poet of the Tagore era of Bengali literature and a teacher. He was born in Karui village of Bardhaman (now Purba Bardhaman district) at West Bengal in a Vaidya (Baidya) family and was from the family lineage of th ...

*1966 –

Sukumar Sen Sukumar Sen may refer to: *Sukumar Sen (civil servant) Sukumar Sen (2 January 1898 – 13 May 1963) was an Indian civil servant who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, serving from 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958. Under his le ...

*1967 –

Bimal Kar Bimal Kar (19 September 1921 — 26 August 2003) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Bengali. He received the 1975 Sahitya Akademi Award presented by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, for his novel ''Asamay''. ...

*1968 –

Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya (1 August 1895 – 8 April 1981) was an Indian entomologist and naturalist who spent most of his career at Bose Institute, Kolkata. He had no formal college degree. In 1981, the University of Calcutta awarded him ...

*1970 -

Gour Kishore Ghosh Gour Kishore Ghosh (20 June 1923 – 15 December 2000) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Associated with ''Anandabazar Patrika'' for decades, Ghosh was known for his novels ''Desh Mati Manush'' and ''Prem Nei''. He was the first editor of ''A ...

*1971 –

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

Santosh Kumar Ghosh Santosh Kumar Ghosh (9 September 1920 – 26 February 1985) was an Indian Bengali litterateur and a journalist of repute. Early life Born in Faridpur district of what is now in Bangladesh, Santosh Kumar had his ancestral house in Barisal distri ...

*1972 –

Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his ma ...

- for general work *1973 –

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay ( bn, শীর্ষেন্দু মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 2 November 1935) is a Bengali author from India. He has written stories for both adults and children. He is known for creating the relativel ...

- ''Manabjomin'' (novel) *1974 –

Moti Nandi Moti Nandi; 10 July 1931 – 3 January 2010) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Career Moti Nandi was from Kolkata. He graduated from the University of Calcutta and became a sports journalist and worked as a sports editor in ''Anandabazar Patr ...

*1975 –

Shakti Chattopadhyay Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Bengali. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural life. He was a green poet, many of his poems raised the issue of nature in crisis. T ...

*1976 –

Buddhadeb Guha Buddhadeb Guha (29 June 1936 – 29 August 2021) was an Indian writer of fiction in Bengali language. Apart from writing, he was a trained singer and a painter too. Career Born in Calcutta, Guha studied at St. Xavier's College of the Universi ...

– ''Halud Basanta'' (novel) *1978 -

Nikhil Sarkar Nikhil Sarkar (1 May 1932 – 17 August 2004) popularly known as ''Sripantha'' was a Bengali social historian, writer and journalist. Early life Sarkar was born at Gouripur village of Mymensingh district in 1932 in British India. After competed ...

*1979 -

Syed Mustafa Siraj Syed Mustafa Siraj (14 October 1930 – 4 September 2012) was an eminent Indian writer. In 1994, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel '' Mythical Man'' (''Aleek Manush''), considered his most lauded work. In 2005, his short story ...

*1980 - Probodh Kumar Sanyal *1981 –

Sanjib Chattopadhyay Sanjib Chattopadhyay ( bn, সঞ্জীব চট্ট্যোপাধ্যায়; born 24 october 1936 in Kolkata, India) is an Indian Bengali novelist and writer of short stories. His style is characterized by use of short satirica ...

*1982 –

Samaresh Majumdar Samares Mazumdar ( bn, সমরেশ মজুমদার, born 10 March 1944) is an Indian Bengali writer from West Bengal, India. He is best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which (''Kalbela'') won the Sahitya Akadem ...

*1983 –

*1984 –

Subhas Bhattacharya Subhash may refer to: People * Subhash Agarwal, Indian professional player and coach of English billiards and snooker * Subhash Awchat (born 1960), Indian artist and author based in Mumbai * Subhash Bapurao Wankhede (born 1963), Indian politician ...

- Adhunik Bangla Prayog Abhidhan (A Dictionary of Modern Bengali Usage), *.......

Dibyendu Palit Dibyendu Palit ( bn, দিব্যেন্দু পালিত; 5 March 1939 – 3 January 2019) was an Indian writer of Bengali poems, novels, and short stories. His first story ''Chandapatan'' was published in 1955 in the Sunday edition ...

– ''Sahajoddha'' (novel), *.......

, Sagarmoy Ghosh, Bimal Mitra (Ashok Kumar Sarkar Memorial) *1985 – Alokranjan Dasgupta *1986 – Ketaki Kushari Dyson – ''Rabindranath o Victoria Ocampor Sandhane'' (historical novel) (Prafulla Kumar Sarkar Memorial) *1988 –

Abul Bashar Abul Bashar ( bn, আবুল বাশার) is a popular Bengali writer from the state of West Bengal in India. He was born in 1951 in Teka in Lalbagh, Murshidabad district. Bashar is pro Trinamool so called intellectual. Select biblio ...

*1989 –

– ''Purbo-Paschim'' (novel) *.......

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''

– ''The Shadow Lines'' (novel) *....... Nirad C. Chaudhuri –

Thy Hand, Great Anarch! ''Thy Hand, Great Anarch!'' is a 1987 autobiographical sequel to Indian essayist Nirad C. Chaudhuri's ''The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian''. Its title was inspired from the concluding couplet of Alexander Pope's ''The Dunciad'' which runs thu ...

(autobiography) *1990 –

– ''Doorbeen'' (novel) *....... Jay Goswami – ''Ghumiechho, Jhaupata?'' (poetry) *1991 – Subhash Mukhopadhyay, Jaya Mitra *1992 –

Taslima Nasrin Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...

– ''Nirbachito Column'' (articles) *1993 –

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...

(refused) *....... Clinton B. Seely (Ashok Kumar Sarkar memorial) *1994 –

, *....... Shamsur Rahman, *.......

Anisuzzaman Anisuzzaman (18 February 1937 – 14 May 2020) was a Bangladeshi academic of Bengali literature. He was an activist who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), and took part in the Bangladesh Liberation ...

(Ashok Kumar Sarkar Memorial), *....... Naren Biswas – ''Aitihyer Angikar'' (Audio cassettes, 13 Nos.) *1995 – Dr. Nazrul Islam - ''Bakul'' (novel) *1996 – Akhtaruzzaman Elias – ''Khwabnama'' (novel) *1997 –

Bani Basu Bani Basu (born 11 March 1939 bn, বাণী বসু) is a prolific Bengali Indian author, essayist, critic, poet, translator and professor. Life She received her formal education from the well-known Lady Brabourne College, Scottish Chu ...

– ''Maitreya Jatak'' (novel) (Prafulla Kumar Sarkar Memorial) *........ Ketaki Kushari Dyson & Sushobhan Adhikari – ''Ranger Rabindranath'' (on Tagore's colour vision) (Suresh Chandra Majumdar Memorial) *1998 – Jay Goswami – ''Jara Brishtite Bhijechhilo'' (novel in verse) *1999 –

Mandakranta Sen Mandakranta Sen (born 1972) is an Indian poet of Bengali language. She became the youngest ever winner of Ananda Puraskar in 1999 for her very first poetry book. In 2004, she was awarded Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award for poetry. She is al ...

– ''Hriday Abadhya Meye'' (poetry) *2000 –

– ''Amar Meyebela'' (memoirs) *2001 – Gauriprasad Ghosh – ''Everyman's Dictionary'' *2002 – Sudhir Chakraborty – ''Baul Fakir Katha'' (folk culture) *2003 – Tilottama Majumdar – ''Basudhara'' (novel) *2004 –

Srijato Srijato Bandopadhyay is an Indian poet of the Bengali language. He won the Ananda Puroskar in 2004 for his book ''Udanta Sawb Joker: All Those Flying Jokers''. In 2014, he won the Filmfare Awards East for Best Lyricist for the song 'Balir Sho ...

– ''Uranto Sab Joker'' (poetry) *2005 – Mihir Sengupta – ''Bishad Briksha'' (autobiography) *2006 –

Utpal Kumar Basu Utpal Kumar Basu (উৎপল কুমার বসু) (3 August 1939 – 3 October 2015) was a Bengali poet and story teller. Life Born in Bhowanipore area of pre-independence Kolkata (1937), Utpal Kumar Basu spent his school days in Bahar ...

– ''Sukh-Duhkher Sathi'' (poetry) *2007 –

Dhritikanta Lahiri Choudhury Dhritikanta Lahiri Choudhury (10 September 1931 – 1 March 2019) was an Indian Bengali author and expert on Indian elephants. Biography Lahiri Choudhury was born to Dhirendrakanta and Renuka Debi in 1931 in village of Kalipur in the Mymensing ...

– ''Hatir Boi'' (on elephants) *2008 – Hasan Azizul Huq – '' Agunpakhi'' (novel) *2009 –

Ranajit Guha Ranajit Guha (born 23 May 1923, in Siddhakati, Backergunje) is a historian of the Indian Subcontinent who has been vastly influential in the Subaltern Studies group, and was the editor of several of the group's early anthologies. He migrated fro ...

– ''Kabir Naam O Sarbanaam'' *2010 - Sunanda Sikdar - ''Dayamayir Katha'' *2011 -

Gautam Bhadra Gautam Bhadra ( bn, গৌতম ভদ্র) is a historian of South Asia and was a member of the erstwhile Subaltern Studies collective. Bhadra was born in Kolkata in 1948. He obtained education at Presidency University, Kolkata, Presidency ...

- ''Nyara Bot-tolaye Jai Ko-bar?'' *2012 – Pinaki Thakur - ''Chumbaner Kshata'' (poetry) *2013 – Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay – ''Dhanapatir Singhalyatra'' (novel) *2014 –

Arindam Chakrabarti Arindam Chakrabarti is, currently, a visiting professor of philosophy at Ashoka University, India. He is, also, a professor of philosophy at Stony Brook University, where he has been since 2018. Prior to moving to Stony Brook, Chakrabarti taugh ...

– ''Bhaatkaporer Bhabna Ebong Koyekti Aatpoure Darshanik Prayas'' (philosophy) *2015 - Swapnamoy Chakraborty - ''Holde Golap'' *2016 - Sudhir Dutta - ''Tabu Moi o Srestho Kobitaguccho'' *2017 -

- ''Bipula Prithibi'' (The Vast World) *2018 -

Santosh Rana Santosh Rana (1942 – 29 June 2019) was an Indian politician. In the 1960s, he was a prominent figure in the armed struggle of the Naxalites led by Charu Majumdar. Rana received Ananda Puraskar for his book ''Rajnitir Ek Jibon'' in 2018. A ...

- ''Rajniti Ek Jibon'' *2019 — Nalini Bera - ''Subarnarenu Subarnarekha''

References

External links

Contributors to the Rabindranath Section of Parabaas
Biographical data in website of Parabaas Bookstore {{ABP Group Bengali-language literature Indian literary awards Bengali literary awards ABP Group Civil awards and decorations of West Bengal 1958 establishments in West Bengal Awards established in 1958

History

Awardees

See also

References

External links