Sahitya Akademi, housed in Rabindra Bhavan at
New Delhi, is an organization for the promotion and co-ordination of literary activities in all Indian languages. It was founded by the Government of India in 1954 with an objective to develop a serious literary culture through the publication of journals, monographs, individual creative work of every genre, anthologies, encyclopedias, dictionaries and bibliographies.
The Sahitya Akademi organizes regular literary programs including symposiums, cultural exchange programs, workshops on genres and for inter-language translations and national and regional seminars on certain important themes or on writers and texts. International seminars involving scholars from various parts of the world are also conducted. Special emphasis is given to tribal and folk literatures.
Sahitya Akademi gives twenty two awards to the most outstanding books published in any of the major Indian languages. It also offers fellowships and honorary fellowships. The regional offices are in Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
