Rahul Sankrityayan

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Rahul Sankrityayan bigraphy, stories - Indian linguist

Rahul Sankrityayan : biography

April 9, 1893 – April 14, 1963

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan () (April 9, 1893 – April 14, 1963), who is called the Father of Hindi Travel literature, was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He became a Buddhist monk (Bauddha Bhikkhu) and eventually took up Marxist Socialism. Sankrityayan was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches. He is referred to as the ‘Greatest Scholar’ (Mahapandit) for his scholarship. He was both a polymath as well as a polyglot.

Gallery

Rahulji’s Museum Picture Gallery at his Birthplace Pandaha.

Image:Rahulji.jpg| Image:Rahulji7.jpg| Image:Rahulji8.jpg|

Soviet Union

Although he had little formal education, in view of his knowledge and command over the subject, University of Leningrad appointed him Professor of Indology in 1937-38 and again in 1947-48.

Travels

His travels took him to different parts of India, including Ladakh, Kinnaur, and Kashmir. He also travelled to several other countries including Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Iran, China, and the former Soviet Union. He spent several years in the "Parsa Gadh" village in the Saran District in Bihar. The village’s entry gate is named "Rahul Gate". While traveling, he mostly used surface transport, and he went to certain countries clandestinely; he entered Tibet as a Buddhist monk. He made several trips to Tibet and brought valuable paintings and Pali and Sanskrit manuscripts back to India. Most of these formed a part of the libraries of Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities. These objects had been taken to Tibet by fleeing Buddhist monks during the twelfth and subsequent centuries when the invading Muslim armies had destroyed universities in India. Some accounts state that Rahul Sankrityayan employed twenty-two mules to bring these materials from Tibet to India.He has a grandson named Prakhar Sankrityayan currently living in India. Patna Museum, Patna, has a special section of these materials in his honour, where a number of these and other items have been displayed.

Childhood

He was born as Kedarnath Pandey on 9 April 1893, a Bhumihar Brahmin family in Azamgarh district, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. His father, Govardhan Pandey, was a religious-minded farmer, a typical profession of poor Brahmins, from the village Kanaila of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. His mother, Kulawanti, often stayed with her parents in the village of Kanaila, and this is where he was born. He was the eldest of four brothers. He spent part of his childhood in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. As both parents died when he was still quite young—his mother died at the age of twenty-eight and his father at the age of forty-five—he was brought up by his grandmother. His earliest memories as recorded by him were of the terrible famine in 1897. At age 9, he ran away from home in order to see the world, but later returned to his homeland.

He received formal schooling at a local primary school, though he later studied and mastered numerous languages independently, as well as the art of photography.

Awards

Awards About Awarded By
Rahul Sankrityayan National Award Contribution to Hindi travel Literature (also called Travel Litterateur’s Honour). Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Government of India
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Paryatan Puraskar Awarded for contributing significantly in the field of travelogue and Discovery and Research in Hindi, for books written originally in Hindi on Tourism related subjects. Ministry Of Tourism, Government of India

Works

In Hindi

Novels

  • Baisvin Sadi – 1923
  • Jine ke Liye – 1940
  • Simha Senapathi – 1944
  • Jai Yaudheya – 1944
  • Bhago Nahin, Duniya ko Badlo – 1944
  • Madhur Svapna – 1949
  • Rajasthani Ranivas – 1953
  • Vismrit Yatri – 1954
  • Divodas – 1960
  • Vismriti Ke Garbh Me
  • Kinner Desh