The first Vietnamese person to receive the Ananda Coomaraswamy award.

The Ananda Coomaraswamy Award (2008) from the Indian Academy of Literature was presented to Associate Professor Dr. Do Thu Ha (Faculty of Oriental Studies - University of Social Sciences and Humanities).

Each year, the Sahitya Akademi (part of the Indian Academy of Sciences) selects outstanding Asian authors and scholars in the fields of culture and arts to award them the title of Honorary Member of the Academy through the Ananda Coomaraswamy Prize. This initiative by the Sahitya Akademi aims to promote research in art, culture, literature, history, and other social sciences by Asian scholars. Since 1996, the Academy has awarded this prize to three Asian scholars.

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2009/03/20/img991.jpg" border="0" alt="Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Thu Ha at the award ceremony" title="Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Thu Ha at the award ceremony" width="154" height="233" align="left" ]

The award ceremony took place on February 21, 2009, during the Annual Festival of Letters at the Rabindra Bhawan Convention Centre, New Delhi, with the participation of many representatives from the Indian Academy of Sciences, such as the President of the Indian Academy of Letters Sri Sunil Gangorpadhyay, Vice President Professor SS Noor, Secretary General Sri A. Krishna Murthy… and representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in India.

The Indian Academy of Literature, established by the Government of India in March 1954, actively promotes the development of Indian literature and art, and strengthens cooperation in literary and artistic activities both domestically and internationally. In addition to the Anada Coomaraswamy Prize for foreign scholars, the Academy also annually awards the Bhasha Samman Prize to Indian authors and scholars through the selection of literary works or translations in 22 officially recognized languages ​​in India.

From January 20th to February 23rd, 2009, Associate Professor Dr. Do Thu Ha visited, lectured, and engaged in academic exchanges with scholars and students at nine universities and five research centers in India, including Calcutta University, Rabindra-Bhvana Visva-Bharati (Santiniketan University), and Ramakrishna Mission College in Kolkata; Dravidian University, Mysore University, and Dhvanyaloka-Center for Indian Studies in Bangalore and Mysore; Mumbai University in Mumbai; Delhi University, Jamia Miia Islamia University, Sangeet Natak Akademi, and Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi… Associate Professor Do Thu Ha's presentations focused on the following main topics: Introducing her initial achievements in research on famous Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata; on Rabindranath Tagore; and contemporary Indian literary movements in comparison with Vietnam. Some influences of Indian culture on Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, the state of Indian studies in Vietnam…