Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1927-2000) was an Indian poet and critic, considered by many as one of the pioneers of modern

Meitei literature , image = Numit Kappa.jpg , imagesize = , caption = The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) , alt ...

. A recipient of the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1987, Nilakanta Singh was honored by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, in 2000, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Biography

Elangbam Nilakanta Singh was born at Keisamthong Elangbam Leikai in the capital of the Indian state of Manipur on 4 October 1927 to Lakhi Devi and Elangbam Bokul Singh, a primary school teacher, as the eldest of their eight children. He did early schooling at

Churachandpur Churachandpur ( Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/'') is the district headquarter of the Churachandpur District in the Indian state of Manipur. It is named after the Meitei King Churachand Singh, the Maharaja of Manipur Kingdom. ...

and continued at Johnstone Higher Secondary School, Imphal from where he passed the matriculation in 1945. His pre university studies were at Murarichand College, Sylhet, in the present day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and later, graduated in Arts (BA) from

Gauhati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assem ...

. He secured a post graduate degree of MA in Philosophy and

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

also from the same university. Singh started his career as a lecturer at D. M. College, Manipur in 1953 where he rose in ranks as a senior lecturer and the Head of the Department. He worked as the Director of the Department of Social Welfare, the

from which position he retired in 1986. He was also a consultant at Manipur University in 1989, Senior Fellow of the Government of India in 1989 and a member of faculty of Philosophy at Manipur University from 1996 to 1997. He was the general secretary of Manipur Sahitya Parishad for two terms, in 1958 and from 1964 till 1968, the president during 1993-94 and the executive member till his death in 2000. He was also involved with several other cultural societies such as Naharol Sahitya Premi Samiti, Geeta Mandal, Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy, Manipur Cultural Forum, Arabindo Society, Mutua Museum and Divine Life Society. Nilakanta Singh represented the Indian cultural delegation in many overseas visits to countries such as Hungary, Germany and France under the Indo European Cultural Exchange Programme in 1971. Singh has authored several publications which included poems, critical studies, travelogues and historical and cultural essays. Some of his notable works are: * (poems) * (poems) * (poems) * (poems) * ''Aspects of Indian culture'' (critical study) * (articles on culture and religion) * (essays on

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

) * (poems) * ''Manipuri dances'' (essays) * ''Fragments of Manipuri Culture'' (essays) * (poems) * * (essays) * ''Monograph on Bhadra'' * ''Monograph on Pandit Atombapu Sharma'' * (travelogue) * (poems) He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book ''Tīrtha yātrā'' in 1987. In 2000, the

honoured him with the civilian award of

. Nilakanta Singh died on 11 February 2000, before the Padma Award investiture ceremony could take place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Elangbam Nilakanta Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Indian male poets People from Imphal Poets from Manipur 1927 births 2000 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Meitei 20th-century Indian poets Gauhati University alumni 20th-century Indian male writers

Biography

See also

References