| 1965 |
Odakkuzhal
| Malayalam | |
| 1966 |
Ganadevta
| Bengali | |
| 1967 |
Sri Ramayana Darshanam
| Kannada | |
Nishitha
| Gujarati | ||
| 1968 |
Chidambara
| Hindi | |
| 1969 |
Gul-e-Naghma
| Urdu | |
| 1970 |
Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu
(A resourceful tree: Ramayana)
| Telugu | |
| 1971 |
Smriti Satta Bhavishyat
| Bengali | |
| 1972 |
Urvashi
| Hindi | |
| 1973 |
Nakutanti (Naku Thanthi) (Four Strings)
| Kannada | |
Matimatal
| Oriya | ||
| 1974 |
Yayati
| Marathi | |
| 1975 |
Chitttrappavai
| Tamil | |
| 1976 |
Ashapurna Devi
|
Pratham Pratisruti
| Bengali |
| 1977 |
K. Shivaram Karanth
|
Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (Mookajjis dreams)
| Kannada |
| 1978 |
Sachchidananda Vatsyayan
|
Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar (How many times in how many boats?)
| Hindi |
| 1979 |
Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya
|
Mrityunjay (Immortal)
| Assamese |
| 1980 |
S. K. Pottekkatt
|
Oru Desathinte Katha (Story of a land)
| Malayalam |
| 1981 |
Amrita Pritam
|
Kagaj te Canvas
| Punjabi |
| 1982 |
Mahadevi Varma
|
Yama
| Hindi |
| 1983 |
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar
|
Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra)
| Kannada |
| 1984 |
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
|
Kayar (Coir)
| Malayalam |
| 1985 |
Pannalal Patel
|
Maanavi Ni Bhavaai
| Gujarati |
| 1986 |
Sachidananda Routray
| --- | Oriya |
| 1987 |
Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (Kusumagraj)
|
For his contributions to Marathi literature
| Marathi |
| 1988 |
C. Narayana Reddy
|
Vishwambhara
| Telugu |
| 1989 |
Qurratulain Hyder
|
Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar
| Urdu |
| 1990 |
V. K. Gokak (Vinayaka Krishna Gokak)
|
Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi
| Kannada |
| 1991 |
Subhas Mukhopadhyay
|
Padatik (The Foot Soldier)
| Bengali |
| 1992 |
Naresh Mehta
| --- | Hindi |
| 1993 |
Sitakant Mahapatra
|
For outstanding contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature, 1973–92
| Oriya |
| 1994 |
U. R. Ananthamurthy
|
For his contributions to Kannada literature
| Kannada |
| 1995 |
M. T. Vasudevan Nair
|
For his contributions to Malayalam literature
| Malayalam |
| 1996 |
Mahasweta Devi
|
Hajar Churashir Maa
| Bengali |
| 1997 |
Ali Sardar Jafri
| --- | Urdu |
| 1998 |
Girish Karnad
|
For his contributions to Kannada literature and for contributions to Kannada theatre (Yayati).
| Kannada |
| 1999 |
Nirmal Verma
| --- | Hindi |
Gurdial Singh
| --- | Ardh channee rathni | |
| 2000 |
Indira Goswami
| --- | Assamese |
| 2001 |
Rajendra Shah
| --- | Gujarati |
| 2002 |
D. Jayakanthan
| --- | Tamil |
| 2003 |
Vinda Karandikar
|
For his contributions to Marathi literature
| Marathi |
| 2004 |
Rehman Rahi
|
Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and Siyah Rode Jaren Manz
| Kashmiri |
| 2005 |
Kunwar Narayan
| --- | Hindi |
| 2006 |
Ravindra Kelekar
| --- | Konkani |
Satya Vrat Shastri
| --- | Sanskrit | |
| 2007 |
O. N. V. Kurup
|
For his contributions to Malayalam literature
| Malayalam |
| 2008 |
Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar'
| --- | Urdu |
| 2009 |
Amar Kant
| --- | Hindi |
Sri Lal Sukla
| --- | Hindi | |
| 2010 |
Chandrashekhara Kambara
|
For his contributions to Kannada literature
| Kannada |
| 2011 |
Pratibha Ray
| --- | Oriya |
| 2012 |
Ravuri Bharadhwaja
| For his contributions to Telugu literature | Telugu |
