Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (11 January 1898 – 2 September 1976) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He was the first Marathi author to win the prestigious Jnanpith Award.
Also recorded as V. S. Khandekar
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar
- Died
- 1976. · Miraj.
- Nationality
- India and Dominion of India.
- Occupation
- poet and writer.
- Education
- Fergusson College.
- Known for
- Yayati.
- Honours
- Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi, Padma Bhushan and Jnanpith Award.
- Languages
- Marathi.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (11 January 1898 – 2 September 1976) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He was the first Marathi author to win the prestigious Jnanpith Award.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (1889–1976) was a poet, teacher and writer and a national of the Dominion of India and India. Born in Sangli, the poet died in Miraj. Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar studied at Fergusson College.
Works include Yayati. Languages used include Marathi. The poet received Jnanpith Award, Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3519978 · wikipedia · Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar
In this article
Early life
Early life
Khandekar was born on 11 January 1898 in Sangli, Maharashtra. His father was a munsif (a subordinate official) in Sangli principality where he spent his childhood and completed his early education. In his early life, he was interested in acting in movies and staged various dramas during school days. After passing his matriculation exam in 1913, Khandekar joined Fergusson College, Pune. In 1920, he started working as a school teacher at a school in Shiroda
Professional and literary life
Professional and literary life
Khandekar's writing career began in 1919 when Shrimat Kalipuranam, his first work, was published, and continued to 1974 when his novel Yayati was published. In 1920, Khandekar started working as a school teacher in a small town, Shiroda, in the present-day Sindhudurg district of the Konkan region in Maharashtra. He worked in that school until 1938. While working as a teacher, Khandekar produced in his spare time abundant Marathi literature in various forms. He frequented a hillock located overseeing the sea where he wrote many of his literary works, this place later came to be known by locals as "Khandekaranchi Khurchi" (Chair of Khandekar). In his lifetime, he wrote sixteen novels, six plays, around 250 short stories, 50 allegorical stories, 100 essays, and over 200 critiques. He worked and founded Khandekari alankar in Marathi grammar.
Major works
Major works
Khandekar's novel Yayāti (ययाति) received three prestigious awards: A Maharashtra State Award (1960), a Sahitya Akademi Award (1960), and a Jnanpith Award (1974). Khandekar's other novels are as follows: Hrudayāchi Hāk (हृदयाची हाक) (1930) Kānchan Mruga (कांचनमृग) (1931) Ulkā (उल्का) (1934) Don Mane (दोन मने) (1938) Hirwā Chāphā (हिरवा चाफ़ा) (1938) Don Dhruwa (दोन धृव) (1934) Rikāmā Dewhārā (रिकामा देव्हारा) (1939) Pahile Prem (पहिले प्रेम) (1940) Kraunchawadh (क्रौंचवध) (1942) Jalalelā Mohar (जळलेला मोहर) (1947) Pāndhare Dhag (पांढरे ढग) (1949) Amrutawel (अमृतवेल) Sukhāchā Shodh (सुखाचा शोध) Ashru (अश्रू)) Soneri Swapne Bhangaleli (सोनेरी स्वप्ने भंगलेली) Yayati (ययाति) Eka Panachi Kahani (एका पानाची कहाणी) (Autobiography)
Other works
Other works
The following is a partial list of Khandekar's other works: अभिषेक(Abhishek) अविनाश (Avinash) गोकर्णीची फुले (Gokarnichi Fule) ढगाआडचे चांदणे (Dhagaadache Chandne) दवबिंदू (Davabindu) नवी स्त्री (Navi Stree) प्रसाद (Prasad) मुखवटे (Mukhawate) रानफुले (Ranfule) विकसन (Vikasan) क्षितिजस्पर्श (Kshitijsparsh)
Movies and television serials
Movies and television serials
Several movies and television serials have been made based on the works of Khandekar. The movies include: Chhāyā...........[Marathi] (1936) Jwālā..............[Marathi and Hindi] (1938) Devatā............[Marathi] (1939) Amrit..............[Marathi and Hindi] (1941) Dharma Patni...[Telugu and Tamil] (1941) Pardeshi.........[Marathi]) (1953) Khandekar wrote the dialogue and screenplay for the Marathi movie Lagna Pahāwe Karoon (1940).
Other works
Other works
Khandekar, Vishnu Sakharam; A. K. Bhagwat; Acyuta Kesava Bhagavata (1977). Maharashtra, a Profile. V. S. Khandekar Amrit Mahotsava Satkar Samiti.
Works in translation
Works in translation
Yayati by V. S. Khandekar (English), Tr. by Y. P. Kulkarni. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 978-81-222-0428-5.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1889
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar born at Sangli.
1976
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar died at Miraj.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Sangli.
Birth place
Miraj.
Death place
Honors and awards
In 1941, Khandekar was elected as the president of the annual Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (Marathi Literary Conference) in Solapur. In 1968, the Government of India honoured him with a Padma Bhushan award in recognition of his literary accomplishments. Two years later, he was also honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship of the Indian Sahitya Akademi. in 1974, he was awarded Jnanpith Award, country's highest literary recognition, for his novel Yayati. Shivaji University at Kolhapur, Maharashtra conferred on him an honorary degree of D.Litt. In 1998, the Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.M. L. NARASIMHAM. DHARMAPATHNI (1941). The Hindu. 4 September 2011.
- 2.Hatkanagalekar, M. D. Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar. Sahitya Akademi. 10–11. 1991. 81-7201-082-6.
- 3.Hatkanagalekar, M. D. V. S. Khandekar. Sahitya Akademi. 9–16. 1986. 17108305.
- 4.Ministry of Home Affairs. Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013).
- 5.Jnanpith, Bhartiya. The text and the context: an encounter with Jnanpith laureates. Bhartiya Jnanpith. 124. 1994. 9788170191827.
- 6.JNANPITH LAUREATES. Bharatiya Jannpith.
- 7.Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. V. S. Khandekar Memorial Museum: Tribute of Shivaji University to the Jnanpith Award winning Marathi novelist. April 2010.
- 8.IMDb name 0451358
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Yayati (Marathi). 1959. .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3519978: Vishnu Sakharam KhandekarWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,285 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Visarion PavlovićAuthor
- VishakhadattaAuthor
- Vishnu Moreshwar MahajaniAuthor
- Vishnu PrabhakarAuthor
- Vishnu WaghAuthor
- Vishnudas BhaveAuthor
- Vishnunarayanan NamboothiriAuthor
- Visitación Padilla'sAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.