In 1982, Bharatiya Jnanpith decided to present annually an award in the memory of Smt. Moorti Devi, mother of Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, the founder of Bharatiya Jnanpith to a "contemplative or intellectual work" created by any living author writing in any of the languages enlisted in the VIIIth Schedule of Indian Constitution.

The award is specifically given out to such writings that underline and express Indian philosophy and cultural heritage based on wider ideals and human values. The award consists of a Saraswati Statue, a Citation Plaque and Cash Award.

The first recipient of the award was the Kannada writer C. K. Nagaraja Rao who was honoured in 1983 for his novel, Pattamahadevi Shantala Devi, which was published in four volumes.

Present Selection Board 

1. Prof. Satyavrat Shastri (Chairman)
2. Prof. Jay Kumar Upadhyay
3. Shri Sheenkaaf Nizam
4. Prof. Veersagar Jain
5. Shri Jayant Parmar
6. Dr. K. Sreenivasrao

7. Dr. Anamika
8.  Smt.Yashodhara Mishra (Ex- officio)
9. Shri Madhusudan Anand (Ex- officio)

Past Members of Selection Board :