Raghuveer ChaudhariSpelling of name is based on his signatur

Archived her

Other alternative spellings are Raghuvir Chaudhary and Raghuvir Chaudhari. is a novelist, poet and critic from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He has also worked as a columnist for numerous newspapers, such as ''Sandesh'', ''Janmabhumi'', ''Nirikshaka'' and '' Divya Bhaskar''. He was a teacher at the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by NA ...

until his retirement in 1998. His most significant contributions have been in

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

but he has also written

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

articles. He received 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 1977, for his novel trilogy ''Uparvas''. He received

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

, considered to be India's highest literary award, in 2015. In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Gujarat University. Raghuveer Chaudhari started his career writing novels and poetry, and later ventured into other forms of literature. He authored more than 80 books and received numerous literary awards. He also served many literary organisations.

Early life

Raghuveer Chaudhari was born on 5 December 1938, in Bapupura village near

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...

, Gujarat, to Dalsinh and Jeeviben, a religious farming couple. He was from Aanjana Chaudhari family. He completed primary and secondary education in

Mansa, Gujarat Mansa is a town with municipality and former princely state, in Gandhinagar district in the western Indian state of Gujarat. History During the British raj, Mansa was a Third class non-salute state under the Mahi Kantha Agency. It ceased to ...

. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1960 and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

language and literature in 1962 from

. In 1979, Chaudhari also received a PhD for his ''Comparative Study of Hindi and Gujarati Verbal Roots'' at the same university. He participated in the

Navnirman Movement ''Navnirman Andolan'' (Re-invention or Re-construction movement) was a socio-political movement in 1974 in Gujarat by students and middle-class people against economic crisis and corruption in public life. It is the only successful agitation in t ...

and opposed the Emergency in the 1970s.

Career

Chaudhari joined the School of Languages in

from 1977 and retired as a professor and the head of Department of Hindi in 1998. He served for the executive council of

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

from 1998 to 2002. He was a member of the

Press Council of India The Press Council of India is a statutory, adjudicating organisation in India formed in 1966 by its parliament. It is the self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press Council Act of 1978., ...

from 2002 to 2004 and was also appointed a jury member of the 25th

Indian Film Festival Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asi ...

. After retirement, he returned to Bapupura and started agricultural activities. He was the president of

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society an ...

in 2001 and is currently serving as its trustee.

Works

He has written more than eighty books including novels, poetry, plays and literary criticism. He chiefly writes in Gujarati but also occasionally in Hindi.

Novels

His novel ''

Amrita ''Amrita'' ( sa, अमृत, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred t ...

'' (1965) explores the concept of

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. His 1975 trilogy titled ''Uparvas'', ''Sahwas'' and ''Antarvas'' won him the

award in 1977. ''Rudramahalaya'' (1978) and ''Somtirth'' (1996) are historical novels. His other novels include ''Venu Vatsala'' (1967), ''Purvarang'', ''Laagni'' (1976), ''Samjyaa Vinaa Chhuta Padavun'' (2003) and ''Ek Dag Aagal Be Dag Paachhal'' (2009) and ''Avaran''.

Plays

His ''Trijo Purush'' is based on the life of Chandravadan Mehta, a Gujarati author. ''Sikandar Sani'' is a historical play while ''Dim Light'' is a street play.

Poetry

''Tamasa'' (1965) is an anthology which explores the idea of intelligence over feelings. Another poetry collection is ''Vaheta Vriksha Pavanma'' published in 1985.

Other works

''Akasmik Sparsh'' and ''Gersamaj'' are collections of short stories. His collections of character sketches are published as ''Sahaarani Bhavyata'' and ''Tilak Kare Raghuvir''. ''Saharani Bhavyata'' gives sketches of twenty five eminent literary figures like

Umashankar Joshi Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati. Biograpy Early years Umashankar Joshi was ...

Jayanti Dalal Jayanti Ghelabhai Dalal (18 November 1909 – 24 August 1970) was an Indian author, publisher, stage actor, director and politician. Born in family of theatre organiser and involved in politics during and after independence of India, he was infl ...

, Sundaram, Yashavant Shukla, Pravin Joshi,

Ravji Patel Ravji Patel (Gujarati: રાવજી પટેલ; 15 November 1939 – 10 August 1968) was a modernist poet, short story writer and novelist of Gujarati language. Life He was born in Bhatpur village (now in Anand district, Gujarat) on 15 Nove ...

and many others. He wrote columns in several regional as well as national dailies and journals such as

Sandesh Sandesh may refer to: *Sandesh (confectionery), a Bengali sweet prepared in Bangladesh and India *Sandesh (magazine), ''Sandesh'' (magazine), a children's magazine in West Bengal *Sandesh (Indian newspaper), ''Sandesh'' (Indian newspaper), a Gujara ...

, Divya Bhaskar, Janmabhoomi and Nirikshaka.

Recognition

He was awarded 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 ...

for his novel trilogy ''Uparvas'' in 1977. During 1965 to 1970 he won numerous prizes awarded annually by the State of Gujarat. He received the

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is ...

in 1975,

Kumar Chandrak Kumar Suvarana Chandrak or the Kumar Gold Medal is a literary award given by Kumar Trust, Ahmedabad, India since 1944. The medal is annually conferred to a Gujarati author for his contribution in '' Kumar'' magazine published by Kumar Trust. In 1 ...

in 1965 and Munshi award in 1997. In 2001, he won

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar The Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar ( Gujarati: સાહિત્ય ગૌરવ પુરસ્કાર), also known as Sahitya Gaurav Award, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. The award is conferred by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi and Government of Gu ...

, which he shared with the renowned Gujarati author

Ramanlal Joshi Ramanlal Jethalal Joshi (22 May 1926 – 10 September 2006) was Gujarati language literary critic and editor from India. He studied and later taught at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. He served at several literary and educational institutions. ...

. He also received Sauhard Samman from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthaan for contribution to Hindi literature in 1990,

Narmad Suvarna Chandrak Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (Gujarati: નર્મદ સુવર્ણ ચંદ્રક), also known as the Narmad Gold Medal or Narmad Chandrak, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. It is bestowed by the organisation known as Narmad Sahitya Sa ...

in 2010, and the

Uma-Snehrashmi Prize Uma-Snehrashmi Prize, also known as Uma-Snehrashmi Paritoshik ( gu, ઉમા-સ્નેહરશ્મિ પારિતોષિક) is a literary award in Gujarat, India founded by Snehrashmi in 1963 in a remembrance of his deceased daughter ...

for 1974-75. He received

in 2015. In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by

Notes and references

Note

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhari, Raghuveer 1938 births Living people Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Indian male novelists Gujarati-language writers People from Gandhinagar district Indian male poets Gujarat University faculty Gujarati people Indian literary critics 20th-century Indian novelists Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Gujarat Novelists from Gujarat Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak 20th-century Indian short story writers Indian historical novelists 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers Gujarat University alumni