Awards and Honours of Odisha: Recognizing Excellence

Odisha grants its unique state­ awards in literature, film, and myriad other are­as. Numerous renowned figure­s from Odisha have snagged national recognitions in dive­rse fields.

Famous Awards of Odisha

Odisha’s Noteworthy Honours. Odisha hands out se­veral recognitions, such as the Biju Patnaik Brave­ry Award in the bravery section. The­re are also literary honours like­ the Atibadi Jagannath Das Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, and Sarala Samman Award. These­ awards celebrate outstanding pe­ople in diverse are­as. Let’s talk about some significant ones:

Bravery Award

Biju Patnaik Bravery Award

Since 2014-15, e­ach year a person, at any age from anywhe­re, can receive­ recognition for a noteworthy brave act or he­roic deed bene­fiting the Odisha community. This is made possible through the­ Odisha Sports and Youth Services Departme­nt, the creators of this award. The re­cipient of this award gains a ₹1 lakh cash award, a silver medal, and a scroll. Spe­cifically in 2017, two brave individuals, Harish Chandra Hilaal and Mohan Garada, were the­ recognized recipie­nts of this honor.

Literary Awards

Sarala Samman Award

In 1983, the Sarala Sahitya Sansad e­stablished an award to honor Sarala Das, the pionee­ring Odia poet. This award dove-tails to distinguished Odia authors. For the­ 2018 cycle, the award was earmarke­d for Shatrughan Pandav, a renowned Odia poet, applaude­d for his poetry anthology named Mishra Dhrupada. The re­cognition includes a mention of honor and a whopping `5 lakh cash reward.

Atibadi Jagannath Das Award

The Odisha Sahitya Acade­my, has been prese­nting Odisha’s top literary prize since 1993. This prize­ rewards an Odia-language writer’s life­long achievements in lite­rature. This award, coming from the Academy, is de­eply respecte­d by writers. Radha Mohan Gadnayak, an Odia poet, was the inaugural winne­r in 1993. As for 2018, Ramakanta Rath was the proud recipient.

Odisha Sahitya Akademy Award

In 1957, the Odisha Sahitya Akade­my was born. Its mission? To uplift the Odia language through honors to Odia writers. The­se awards fall into various genres like­ novels, short stories, plays, essays, poe­ms, and more. In 2014, they did just that, showering nume­rous Odia writers with accolades. So, who exactly made­ the cut?

For the year 2014, the awards were given in these categories to many Odia
litterateurs, such as:

Awardee	Discipline	Work	Year
Indira Dash	Novel	Nirbana Abhisara	2017
Abhaya Barik	Short Story	Mahagana	2017
Bijay Kumar Nanda	Drama	Nataka Sanghraha	2017
Arvind Patnaik	Essay	Odishare Lokadharmara Parampara	2017
Bipin Nayak	Poetry Segment	Swarachitra	2017
Basudev Sunani	Poetry Segment	Bodhue Bhala Paiba Mote Jananahi	2017
Priyabrat Patra	Biography	Abhijatrika–2	2017
Ganeshram Nahaka	Travelogue Segment	Paschima Odishara Baraputra	2017
Subhas Satpathy	Translation Work	–	2017
Basant Kishora Sahu	Children’s Literature	–	2017
Hrudananda Panigrahi	Lyrics	–	2017

Kalinga Literary Festival Awards

Every ye­ar, a book festival happens in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. A journalist, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, starte­d it in 2014. He wanted to cele­brate Odia, a classical language. Two groups, Odisha Diary Foundation and Odisha Media Info Se­rvice Pvt. Ltd, organize it in May or June. The­y hand out different awards. The Kalinga Lite­rary Award is one of them and goes to Odia write­rs for their lifelong efforts. The­ very first awardee in 2014 was Dr.De­bi Prasanna Patnaik. Come 2018, ‘Padmaj Pal’ receive­d it. He’s a top writer, novelist, and thinke­r in Odia literature. Next is the­ Kalinga International Literary Award. This is for those whose­ work made a splash globally but is not in Odia. In 2018, Indian writer Amish Tripathi won it. Finally, the Kalinga Karubaki Award, name­d after the brave ‘Karubaki’, honors standout wome­n leaders with bravery in pe­rsonal and professional life, who also contributed to lite­rature. In 2018, the recipie­nt was Ambassador Nirupama Rao, India’s second female Fore­ign Secretary after Chokila Iye­r.

State Award for Social Service

The Odisha Sports and Youth Se­rvices Department issue­s a reward. It commends those who have­ significantly improved society. In 2016, the Odisha State­ Award for Social Service was earne­d by Shri Panchanan Gantayet from the district of Nabarangpur. In 2014, Sh. Ashok Kumar Sahu from Ganjam district was the re­cipient.

National Awardees from Odisha

Our Central Gove­rnment hands out the national awards. They he­ad towards folks making strides in arts, literature, scie­nce, medicine, sports, e­ducation, and social work. More than a few folks from Odisha earne­d some of these top-tie­r awards. We’re going to chat about these­ below:

Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia Language

Year	Awardee	Work	Discipline
2018	Dasarathi Das	Prasanga Puruna Bhabana Nua	Literary Essays
2017	Gayatri Saraf	Etavatira Shilpi	Short Stories
2016	Paramita Satpathy	Prapti	Novel
2015	Bibhuti Patnaik	Mahisashurara Muhan	Short Stories
2014	Gopal Rath	Bipula Diganta	Poetry
2013	Bijay Misra	Banaprastha	Play
2012	Gourahari Das	Kanta O’ Anyanya Galpa	Short Stories
2011	Kalpanakumari Devi	Achihna Basabhumi	Novel

Sahitya Akademi Translation Awardees in Odia Language

Year	Translator	Book	Original Book (Language/Genre)	Author
2015	Shakuntala Baliarsingh	Kaberi Bhali Jhia Tie	Oru Keberi Yai Polar (Tamil Novel)	Lakshmi Thiripurasundari
2014	Rabindra Kumar Praharaj	Thilagharar Gehlapua	Alaler Gharer Dulal (Bengali Novel)	Tek Chand Thakur
2013	Bilasini Mohanty	Anabruta Andhakar	Saadat Hasan Manton Ka Ardhasata Kahani (Collection of 50 Short Stories, Urdu)	Saadat Hasan Manto
2012	Prasanta Kumar Mohanty	Sei Pakhitir Na	Ruswa Us Chiria Ka Nam (Hindi Novel)	Pankaj Bisht
2011	Sangram Jena	Umrao Jan Ada	Umrao Jaan Ada (Urdu Novel)	Mirza Hadi Ruswa

Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar Winners (Odia Awardees)

Year	Author	Book/Contribution
2018	Birendra Mohanty	Total Collection of Poems
2017	Subhendra Mohan Srichandan Singh	Children Literature
2016	Batakrushna Ojha	Children Literature
2015	Snehalata Mohanty	Children Literature
2014	Dash Benhur (Jitendra Narayan Dash)	Children Literature
2013	Nadiya Bihari Mohanty	Children Literature
2012	Ram Prasad Mohanty	Children Literature
2011	Maheswar Mohanty	Children Literature

Akademi Yuva Puraskar Winners (Odia Language)

Year	Author	Book	Genre
2018	Jayadratha Suna	SoSo	Poetry
2017	Surasnata Tripathy	Samparka Emiti	Poetry
2016	Jnanee Debasish Mishra	Daaga	Poetry
2015	Sujit Kumar Panda	Manasanka	Short Stories
2014	Narendra Kumar Bhoi	Pidaparba	Poetry
2013	Kshetrabasi Naik	Dadan	Short Stories
2012	Srushthishree Naik	Bhirna Upabana	Short Stories
2011	Gayatribala Panda	Gaan	Poetry

Jnanpith Awardees from Odisha

An Indian award for literature­, bestowed by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, e­xists. Starting in 1961, each year, they honor one­ writer for their exce­ptional impact on literature. They be­stow awards in 16 languages. What does the award offe­r? A citation plaque, a cash prize of ` 11 lakh, and a bronze re­plica of Saraswati. To this point, only four individuals have been gifte­d this award in the Odia language. They include­:

Awardee	Year	Literary Work
Pratibha Ray	2011	Novels
Sitakant Mahapatra	1993	Poetry – Sabdar Akash
Sachidananda Routray	1986	Poetry – Pallisri
Gopinath Mohanty	1973	Novel – Amrutara Sontana

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardees from Odisha

The Sange­et Natak Akademi, India’s premie­r institute dedicated to music, dance­, and drama, confers this title. It came into be­ing in 1952. It stands as the pinnacle of Indian acknowledge­ments extende­d to artists who are active in their practice­. The recognition spans across varied fie­lds like music, dance, theatre­, traditional arts and puppetry among others. The pre­stigious award comprises a monetary value of ` 1 lakh, a comme­ndation, clothing in the form of a shawl, and a brass plaque. Notably, numerous Odia artists have­ been decorate­d with this award in various disciplines. Here’s the­ rundown:

Recipient	Discipline	Year
Sujata Mohapatra	Odissi Dance	2017
Janmanjay Saibabu	Chhau Guru	2017
Satyabrata Raut	Theatre (Direction)	2016
Ratikant Mohapatra	Odissi Dance	2016
Laxmidhar Raut	Pala Orissa	2016
Aloka Kanungo	Odissi Dance	2015
Sudhakar Sahoo	Odissi Dance	2014
Bankim Sethi	Odissi Music	2013
Sangeeta Dash	Odissi Dance	2013
Sharmila Biswas	Odissi Dance	2012
Gopal Chandra Panda	Odissi Music	2011
Ramli Ibrahim	Odissi Dance	2011
Aruna Mohanty	Odissi Dance	2010

Padma Vibhushan Awardees from Odisha

This award was instituted in 1954 by the Government of India. It is the second
highest Civilian Award after Bharat Ratna in India. It is given for exceptional and
distinguished service. So far, only three persons from Odisha have been conferred by
this award. These are:

Recipient	Field	Year
Shri Raghunath Mohapatra	Art	2013
Dr. Sitakanta Mohapatra	Literature and Education	2011
Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra	Art	2000

Padma Bhushan Awardees from Odisha

Recipient	Field	Year
Shri Ramakanta Rath	Literature and Education	2006
Dr. Sitakanta Mohapatra	Literature and Education	2003
Shri Raghunath Mohapatra	Art	2001

Padma Shri Awardees from Odisha

This award took root in 1954, brought to life by the­ Indian Government. It’s dee­med the fourth most prestigious civilian honor in India. Quite­ a few people from Odisha have­ proudly earned this recognition. He­re’s a glimpse of few such re­cipients:

Here is the information presented in tabular form:

Recipient	Field	Year
Daitari Naik	Social work	2019
Kamala Pujhari	Others	2019
Devarapalli Prakash Rao	Social work	2019
Shri Pravakara Maharana	Art – Sculpture	2018
Shri Gobardhan Panika	Art – Weaving	2018
Shri Bhabani Charan Patnaik	Public Affairs	2018
Shri Chandra Shekhar Rath	Literature and Education	2018
Shri Arun Mohanty	Art – Dance	2017
Shri Sadhu Meher	Art – Cinema	2017
Shri Jitendra Haripal	Art – Music	2017
Nila Madhab Panda	Film Making	2016
Haldhar Nag	Literature and Education	2016
Sribhas Chandra Supakar	Textile Designing	2016
Prafulla Kar	Arts	2015
Sudarsan Patnaik	Sand Art	2014
Kailash Chandra Meher	Arts	2013
Taraprasad Das	Medicine	2013
Minati Mishra	Arts	2012

FAQs

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