Dharanidhar Koirala (;1893–1980; also known as Dharanidhar Sharma Koirala) was a Nepali poet sometimes known as Pandit-ji.

Biography

Dharanidhar Koirala was born in 1893 in what is now Sindhuli District into a Hindu Brahmin family. He studied

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and English from

Banaras Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. In Banaras, he saw Indian people promoting their

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

which inspired him to "think about

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and the

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

". In 1918, he was exiled to India, where Koirala,

Surya Bikram Gyawali Surya Bikram Gyawali (; born 10 June 1898 – 1 December 1985) was a Nepali historian. He wrote biographies for numerous people including King Prithvi Narayan Shah and writer Bhanubhakta Acharya. Gyawali also served as a head teacher in Darjeel ...

, and

Parasmani Pradhan Parasmani Pradhan () (1 January 1898–2 February 1986) was an Indian Nepali-language writer, poet, translator, grammarian, educator and publisher. He published multiple Nepali language textbooks and played an important role in shaping the moder ...

became known as "SuDhaPa". In 1924, Koirala with

, Hari Prasad Pradhan, and others established the Nepali Sahitya Sammelan in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

. The establishment of this organisation was seen as a major event in Nepali literature's history. Koirala was a key advisor to Sir

Ralph Lilley Turner Sir Ralph Lilley Turner (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was a British philologist of Indian languages and a university administrator. He is notable for composing an Indo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publicatio ...

who published ''Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language'' in 1931. He wrote poems about

social reforms A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

. In 1978, Koirala was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree by Tribhuvan University. He was also awarded Tribhuvan Pragya Award by

Nepal Academy The Nepal Academy ( ne, नेपाल प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठान), formerly known as Royal Nepal Academy ( ne, नेपाल राजकीय प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठान), is an autonomo ...

for his contributions to Nepali literature. Koirala died in 1980. In 1994, the

Government of Nepal The Government of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल सरकार) is the federal executive authority of Nepal. Prior to the abolition of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 (became republic in 2008), it was officially known as His Majesty's Government. T ...

issued postage stamps featuring Koirala.

Works

* ''Naibedya'' (1920) * ''Jaga Jaga'' * ''Asha'' *''Spandhana''

References

Citations

*< * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koirala, Dharanidhar 1893 births 1980 deaths Nepalese male poets Nepali-language writers People from Sindhuli District 20th-century Nepalese poets Nepalese Hindus Nepali language activists Nepali language movement activists Nepali-language poets