Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Memorial Lecture

This Memorial lecture were instituted by Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Memorial Nyas 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’.