Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1955, by Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters), to writers and their works, for their outstanding contribution to the upliftment of Indian literature and Kannada literature in particular. No Awards were conferred in 1957 and 1963. A total of 57 Sahitya Akademi Awards have been received by Kannada Writers.
References
List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Kannada Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA