Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma presented the 56th Jnanpith Award for the year 2021 to eminent Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan in a programme held at Rabindra Bhawan in the city today. Organized for the first time in Assam by Bharatiya Jnanpith, the programme was also attended by Education Minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu, Cultural Affairs Minister Bimal Bora and Chairperson of Jnanpith Selection Board Pratibha Ray among others. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said that the country’s highest literary honour presented today to renowned poet Nilmani Phookan made the people of Assam proud and elated. He said that this honour was a great moment of achievement for the Assamese people and thanked Bharatiya Jnanpith for presenting prestigious award to the eminent poet. Stating that while novelist Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya was the first recipient of the prestigious Jnanpith from Assam, which he received in 1979 and Mamoni Roisam Goswami being the second Assamese Jnanpith awardee got the award in the year 2000, Dr. Sarma said that repeating history, poet Nilmani Phookan received the Jnanpith exactly after two decades. It is stated that Nilmani Phookan through his dedication to the task of writing poetry over the years and with his uniquely creative language and recurrent use of symbols and imagery gave a new dimension to modern Assamese poetry. He is also stated that by presenting the Jnanpith to Phookan, Bharatiya Jnanpith has infused a new energy into Assamese literature. “Most of the poems of the poet Nilmani Phookan, who created the era of modern Assamese poetry, rich in quality that attracted the reader, have a beautiful picture of nature. Through poetry, he explores life, youth, love, joy, the world’s most common mysteries, nature, etc. and many other subjects”, Dr. Sarma said while terming him as one of the best poets of twentieth century.
The Chief Minister further said that there is a need to take Phookan’s poetry to the world readers and expressed desire to take the initiative through Assam Publication Board to translate his poems.Celebrated Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan has won the highest literary honour, the Jnanpith Award. Nilamani Phookan has been chosen for the 56th Jnanpith Award and Konkani short story writer and novelist Damodar Mauzo was chosen for the 57th Jnanpith Award for their contribution to Indian literature.Phookan is the third Assamese poet, author and writer after Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya and Mamoni Raisom Goswami to win the prestigious award.Born on September 13 in 1933 at Dergaon in Assam’s Golaghat district, Nilamani Phookan’s work is full of symbolism, inspired by French symbolism and is indicative of the genre in Assamese poetry.Surya Heno Nami Ahe Ei Nadiyedi (The sun is said to come descending by this river), Manas-Pratima, Phuli Thaka Suryamukhi Phultor Phale (Towards the Blooming Sunflower), Gulapi Jamur Lagna are some of his best known pieces.Phookan has received several accolades for his work. He was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981 in Assamese for his poetry collection Kavita (Kobita) and he was also awarded Padma Shri in 1990.
In 1997, he was awarded the Assam Valley Literary Award, and in 2002 he received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship given by Sahitya Akademi.Notably, the award ceremony has been held for the first time in the northeastern state of Assam, as previous ceremonies have been held in the national capital of Delhi.Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma was the chief guest at the award ceremony.