Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand conferred the First World Sanskrit Award
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand has been conferred the first ‘World Sanskrit Award’ by the government of India for her contribution towards promotion of the Sanskrit language. The award is expected to give a fillip to the strong cultural ties that have existed since ancient times between the two countries.
The award is instituted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and will be presented by Vice President Hamid Ansari.
The award will be given to eminent Sanskrit scholars in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the study/teaching/research in Sanskrit language and literature.
Thai Princess Sirindhorn is a noted educator and scholar of Sanskrit and Pali. She was also the Royal Patron of the 16th World Sanskrit Conference which was held in Bangkok last year. The five-day conference saw the participation of over 600 Sanskrit scholars from 60 countries and was inaugurated by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.