Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (11 January 1898 – 2 September 1976) (V. S. Sakharam Khandekar) was an eminent Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He was the first Marathi litterateur to win prestigious Jnanpith Award.

Khandekar was born in Sangli, Maharashtra. His father was a munsif in Sangli principality. In his early life, he was interested in acting in movies and staged various dramas in his school days.

In 1920, Khandekar started working as a school teacher in a small town, Shirode, 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. 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.

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.

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) (Autobioghraphy)

• "JNANPITH LAUREATES". Bharatiya Jannpith. Retrieved 20 November 2013. 12. V.S. Khandekar (1974) Marathi 
• "V. S. Khandekar Memorial Museum: Tribute of Shivaji University to the Dnyanpith award winning Marathi novelist". Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. April 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2013. 

The following is a partial list of Khandekar's other works:

• अभिषेक(Abhishek)
• अविनाश (Avinash)
• गोकर्णीची फुले (Gokarnahi Fule)
• ढगाआडचे चांदणे (Dhagaadache Chandne)
• दवबिंदू (Davbindu)
• नवी स्त्री (Navi Stri)
• प्रसाद (Prasad)
• मुखवटे (Mukhawate)
• रानफुले (Ranfule)
• विकसन (Vikasan)
• क्षितिजस्पर्श (Shitijsparsh)

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)
• Amrut..............[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).

• Khandekar, Vishnu Sakharam; A. K. Bhagwat; Acyuta Kesava Bhagavata (1977). Maharashtra, a Profile. V. S. Khandekar Amrit Mahotsava Satkar Samiti. 

• Yayati by V. S. Khandekar (English), Tr. by Y. P. Kulkarni. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 978-81-222-0428-5.