10 facts about Amrita Pritam her fans would want to know

Amrita Pritam is one of the best known Punjabi authors and poets. She wrote fiction, non-fiction, poetry and essays. She has over 100 works to her name and had been honoured with some of the highest awards in the country including the Sahitya Akademi, Bharatiya Jnanpith, and Padma Vibhushan. Here are some facts about her life that would interest her fans.
Photo: Wikipedia

She was born in British India in Gujranwala, Punjab which now falls under Pakistan. She moved to Lahore with her father when she was 11, after her mother died.
Photo:(1909 Map of the British Indian Empire;Wikipedia)

She had been betrothed to Pritam Singh in her childhood and she married him in 1936, at the age of 16. He was the son of a leading hosiery merchant of Lahore's Anarkali bazaar and an Editor. It is from him that she gets her last name Pritam. However her marriage wasn't a happy one and she left him in 1960.
Photo: Pexels(Representative Image)

After her mother's death, Amrita found solace in writing. Her first publication was an anthology of poetry, ‘Amrit Lehran’ (Immortal Waves).
Photo: Canva

As British India was divided into Independant India and Paskistan, Amrita moved from Lahore to New Delhi. Her poem ‘Ajj akhaan Waris Shah nu,’ expresses her sorrow and horror over the violence accompaning the partition.
Photo: Canva

Amrita worked at ‘Lahore Radio Station’ until partition. In India she worked with ‘All India Radio’.
Photo: Canva

Though she wrote in Hindi and Punjabi, her works became so popular in the 1960's, they were translated into many languages including English, Danish, Japanese, French, and Mandarin.
Photo: Canva

Many films were inspired by her novels, the best known being 'Pinjar', which released in 2003 and won the Filmfare Best Art Direction Award and National Film Award - Special Jury Award. Some others are the 1965 movie ‘Kadambari’ which was based on her book ‘Dharti Sagar te Sippiyan’ and Daaku(1976) was based on ‘Unah Di Kahani’.
Photo: Wikipedia

The Punjab Rattan Award by the government of Punjab is awarded to achievers in the field of art, literature, science, technology, culture, and politics. Amrita was the first to recive it.
Photo: Pixabay (Representative image)

Amrita was the first woman to win the renowned award. She won in 1956 for her poem ‘Sunehade’ (Messages). The poem is considered to be her magnum opus.
Photo: Wikipedia