Instituted by Roopvedh Pratishthan, the award, given annually in the memory of the son of eminent actor Shriram Lagoo, was presented to Karnad at a function here last night.
On the occasion, Karnad said although his works were in Kannada, his roots also lay in the Marathi stage culture, imbibed through plays of the legendary Balgandharva.
Noted stage and film director Jabbar Patel, who gave the award to Karnad, praised his plays saying that they posed a challenge to actors who had to grasp the imagery and language of his works.
Marathi stage artiste and writer Pradip Vaidya was also honoured on the occasion for his contribution to Marathi theatre.