Acharya’ Hazari Prasad Dwivedi (August 19, 1907 – May 19, 1979) was a Hindi novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic and scholar. He penned numerous novels, collections of essays, historical research on medieval religious movements of India especially Kabir and Natha Yoga, and historical outlines of Hindi literature. Besides Hindi, he was master of many languages including Sanskrit, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati as well as Pali, Prakrit, and Apabhramsa. His work on medieval saint Kabir is considered a masterpiece, and is a thoroughly researched analysis of Kabir’s thought, works, and teachings. His Historical Novels Banbhatta Ki Atmakatha (1946), Anamdas Ka Potha, Punarnava, Charu-chandra-Lekha are considered classics. His memorable essays are Nakhoon Kyon Barhte Hain (Why do the nails grow), Ashok ke phool, Kutaj, and Alok Parva (Collection).

Steeped in traditional knowledge of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit, and modern Indian languages, Dr. Dwivedi was destined to be the great bridge maker between the past and the present. As a student of Sanskrit, steeped in the Sastras, he gave a new evaluation to Sahitya-sastra and he can rightly be considered as a great commentator on the textual tradition of the Indian literature.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1957) for his contribution to Hindi literature, and the Sahitya Akademi Award (1973) for his collection of essays, ‘Alok Parva’.

This year’s Acharya Hazari Prasad Memorial Lecture was organised on the theme Social Awareness of Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and chaired by Shri Janardan Dwivedi.

Kamleshwar

Ganjifa is a traditional form of playing cards known for their exquisite painting by artisans. The Ganjifa workshop-exhibition-sale was held at the Chitra Art Gallery during May 19-22, 2003. At present the SRC is developing a visual archive of Ganjifa cards as part of its archival documentation. The event was documented by Media Unit, IGNCA and telecast on DD Bharati. Report of event published in Vihangama – April-May 2003

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By Virendra Bangroo and Krzysztof Stronski

• Exhibition Details | Photographs

Acharya’ Hazari Prasad Dwivedi (August 19, 1907 – May 19, 1979) was a Hindi novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic and scholar. He penned numerous novels, collections of essays, historical research on medieval religious movements of India especially Kabir and Natha Yoga, and historical outlines of Hindi literature. Besides Hindi, he was master of many languages including Sanskrit, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati as well as Pali, Prakrit, and Apabhramsa. His work on medieval saint Kabir is considered a masterpiece, and is a thoroughly researched analysis of Kabir’s thought, works, and teachings. His Historical NovelsBanbhatta Ki Atmakatha (1946), Anamdas Ka Potha, Punarnava, Charu-chandra-Lekha are considered classics. His memorable essays are Nakhoon Kyon Barhte Hain (Why do the nails grow), Ashok ke phool, Kutaj, and Alok Parva (Collection).

Steeped in traditional knowledge of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit, and modern Indian languages, Dr. Dwivedi was destined to be the great bridge maker between the past and the present. As a student of Sanskrit, steeped in the Sastras, he gave a new evaluation to Sahitya-sastra and he can rightly be considered as a great commentator on the textual tradition of the Indian literature.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1957) for his contribution to Hindi literature, and the Sahitya Akademi Award (1973) for his collection of essays, ‘Alok Parva’.

A Panel discussion on Acharya Hazari Prasad ka Kavi Roop : Ek Paricarca was organised in the memory of Acharya Hazari Prasad in collaboration with Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Smriti Nyas.

Namvar Singh, Vishwanath Tripathi and Ashok Vajpeyi

A Panel discussion on Acharya Hazari Prasad ka Kavi Roop : Ek Paricarca was organised in the memory of Acharya Hazari Prasad in collaboration with Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Smriti Nyas.

Speaker:

Namvar Singh, Vishwanath Tripathi and Ashok Vajpeyi

A national seminar on Dr. K. Shivarama Karanth’s contribution was in collaboration with the Sahitya Akademi (SRO) held on August 27, 2002. The papers presented by well-known scholars dealt with Karanth’s contribution to Yakshagana music, choreography, composers, costumes, and his experiments.

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