Bhanubhakta Acharya

Who is Bhanubhakta Acharya?

Bhanubhakta Acharya was a Nepali poet born on 13 July 1814 in the village of Chundi Ramgha in Tanahun District, into a Sanskrit-educated Brahmin family. He is honored across Nepal as Adikavi, the "First Poet," for his pioneering translation of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana into everyday spoken Nepali, breaking with the tradition of restricting the great religious epics to Sanskrit-literate elites and making the story accessible to ordinary Nepali speakers for the first time. His translation, along with his other verse, helped establish Nepali as a serious literary language in its own right and laid groundwork for the modern Nepali literary tradition that followed him. According to popular biography, his commitment to public service was shaped in his youth by the example of a poor grass-cutter who dug a well from his modest earnings so that travelers would have water to drink. Bhanubhakta died in 1868. His birth anniversary, Bhanu Jayanti, is celebrated as a national literary holiday in Nepal, and his work remains part of the standard Nepali school curriculum.

Sources: Bhanubhakta Acharya — Wikipedia · Bhanu Jayanti — Nepali Patro · OnlineKhabar English, "Bhanu Bhakta Acharya: 5 reasons why a poet became a household name in Nepal"