Marathi Language Pride Day: Award Ceremony in Mumbai Tomorrow

Mumbai : In honor of Marathi Language Pride Day and to recognize individuals contributing to the growth of Marathi literature and language, an award ceremony will be held at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, on February 27 at 5 PM.

The event, organized on the birth anniversary of Jnanpith awardee poet Kusumagraj, will be attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, Legislative Council Chairman Prof. Ram Shinde, Assembly Speaker Adv. Rahul Narwekar, Minister of Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Minister of Industries & Marathi Language Uday Samant, Minister of Cultural Affairs & Information Technology Adv. Ashish Shelar, Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve, and Deputy Chairperson Dr. Neelam Gorhe, among others.

For 2024, the Vinda Karandikar Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to senior writer Rausaheb Rangrao Borade. The Shri Pu. Bhagwat Award for distinguished publishing houses will go to Jyotsna Prakashan, Pune. The Dr. Ashok Kelkar Language Scholar Award will be given to Dr. Ramesh Sitaram Suryavanshi, and the Mangesh Padgaonkar Language Conservation Award will be conferred upon Smt. Bhimabai Jondhale.

The awards for rural literature (2023) have also been announced. In the literary category, the Keshavsut Poetry Award goes to Eknath Patil for his book Anishthakalache Bhaysoochan. The Ram Ganesh Gadkari Award for drama/one-act plays will be presented to Makarand Sathe, while the Hari Narayan Apte Award for novels will be awarded to Anand Wingkar. Other notable awards include:

• Divakar Krishna Award (Short Stories) – Dilip Naik-Nimbalkar
• Anant Kanekar Award (Essay & Prose) – Anjali Joshi
• Shripad Krishna Kolhatkar Award (Humor) – Shekhar Gaikwad
• N.C. Kelkar Award (Biographies) – Vivek Govilkar
• Lakshmibai Tilak Award (Autobiographies) – Dr. Vasant B. Rathod
• Shri K. Kshirsagar Award (Criticism, Research, Aesthetics & Fine Arts) – Sameer Chavan

Some categories did not receive recommendations, including the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Award for political and social sciences and the C.D. Deshmukh Award for economics.

Other major awards include:

• Shahu Maharaj Award (History) – Prakash Pawar
• Narhar Kurundkar Award (Linguistics & Grammar) – Ujjwala Joglekar
• Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Award (Science & Technology) – Subodh Jawadekar
• Vasantrao Naik Award (Agriculture & Allied Fields) – Dr. Lalita Vijay Bora
• Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Award (Marginalized Literature) – Sunita Savarkar
• Na. Go. Nandapurkar Award (Philosophy & Psychology) – Ya. Ra. Jadhav
• Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Award (Education) – Hemant Chopde
• Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Award (Environment) – Madhav Gadgil
• Ra. Na. Chavan Award (Edited/Curated Works) – Editor Ravi Mukul
• Tarkateertha Lakshmanshastri Joshi Award (Translation) – Srikant Arun Pathak
• Bhai Madhavrao Bagal Award (Miscellaneous) – Supriya Raj

In the Children’s Literature category, major awards include:

• Balkavi Award (Poetry) – Prashant Asanare
• Bha. Ra. Bhagwat Award (Drama/One-Act Plays) – Sanjay Shinde
• Sane Guruji Award (Novels) – Rekha Baijal
• Raja Mangalwedhekar Award (Stories) – Sharad Apte
• Yadunath Thatte Award (General Knowledge) – Dr. Pramod Bejkar
• Na. Dho. Tamhanakar Award (Miscellaneous Children’s Literature) – Dr. Anand Nadkarni

Each of these awards carries a cash prize of ₹50,000.

In the First Publication Literary Awards category:

• Bahinabai Chaudhari Award (Poetry) – Tanhaji Ramdas Borhade
• Vijay Tendulkar Award (Drama/One-Act Plays) – Harish Bodhare
• Shri Na. Pendse Award (Novels) – Pradeep Kokre
• G.L. Thokal Award (Short Stories) – Dr. Sanjeev Kulkarni
• Tarabai Shinde Award (Essay & Prose) – Ganesh Manohar Kulkarni

Each of these awards carries a cash prize of ₹50,000. The Ra. Bha. Patankar Award for literary criticism and aesthetics received no recommendations.

Additionally, under the Sarfojiraje Bhosale Brihanmaharashtra Award category, the Sayaji Maharaj Gaikwad Award will be presented to translator Yogini Mandavgan for Albert Camus La Myth de Sisyphe, carrying a prize of ₹1 lakh.