{"id":345,"date":"2014-05-20T10:26:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T10:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born\/"},"modified":"2014-05-20T10:26:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T10:26:00","slug":"20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born","title":{"rendered":"20 May 1900: Sumitranandan Pant, Indian Poet, was born"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c[Sumitranandan Pant] was, thus, a pioneer who won new frontiers of theme and expression for Hindi poetry.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

~ Dr. B N Prasad, in his article in the Triveni<\/em> Magazine in 1978.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sumitranandan Pant, born on 20<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0May 1900, in a village in the Almora district of Uttarakhand named Kausani, is renowned among readers in the Hindi language as an eminent poet whose words stirred not only the nature lovers, but also patriots and intellectuals. His entire repertoire of work provides one a glimpse to his life, his surroundings, and the age of political awakening, socialist ideologies, and philosophical sentiments. Pant won several honours and awards for his inspiring works, including the Jnanpith Award (for his collection of poems named <\/span><\/span><\/span>Chidambara<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>) in 1968, Sahitya Academy Award (for his poetry collection <\/span><\/span><\/span>Kala Aur Budhdha Chand<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>) in 1960, Padma Bhushan (for all his works) in 1961, and even the Nehru Peace Prize honoured by the Soviet Union (for <\/span><\/span><\/span>Lokayatan<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Personal Life<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Youngest among eight children, Pant had a motherless childhood, as she died a few hours after his birth. He was brought up by his grandmother. Pant was originally named Gosain Dutt by his family. He detested the name so much that he changed it to Sumitranandan Pant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pant did his schooling from Almora and then from Kashi, where he completed his matriculation. He, then, got admission into the Allahabad University to study further. In those days, the charisma of Mahatma Gandhi had captured the imagination of the youth in the country. When Gandhi declared the beginning of the Satyagraha Movement, Pant, like many youngsters of his age left his studies in support of the movement. He, although, taught himself through several literary works in English, Bengali and Sanskrit.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In his later years, Pant\u2019s temper became more contemplative and he began to look for answers about life. Through his association with Udayshankar, the well-renowned Indian dancer and film-maker, he travelled to South India, where he met Sri Aurobindo in his ashram in Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindo helped him with his philosophical questions, consequently giving his thinking a direction. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The works of Pant showcase the different phases of his life, from a nature loving Himalayan boy to a Gandhi-supporting patriot, to a contemplative philosopher, humanist, and a socialist.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Phase one: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Chayavad<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Pant’s career in poetry started as early as 1907, when he was just seven years old. Living amidst the natural beauty of the Himalayas, greatly influenced his poems. It is also believed that he was highly inspired by the poetry displaying Romanticism by Rabindranath Tagore, P B Shelley, William Wordsworth, and John Keats.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Hindi literary school, the kind of poems Pant wrote, were popularly known as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Chayavad<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>. He is in fact, considered among the \u201cBig Three\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span>Chayavad\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>poets, others being Nirala and Prasad. His best works in the <\/span><\/span><\/span>Chayavad\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>poetry include,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Pallav\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>(Leaf Buds), <\/span><\/span><\/span>Jyotsna<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Rays of the Moon), and <\/span><\/span><\/span>Gunjan\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>(Murmurings).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Phase two: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Pragativad<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Patriotism ran high in the veins of the Indian youth after the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi and the beginning of the Satyagraha Movement. Pant was no different. He took inspiration, for his next set of poems, from not only Gandhi but also Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Karl Marx. Although, Karl Marx was a source of temporary inspiration. Pant did not accept Marx\u2019s theory that, \u201cart and culture were superstructures on the economic base.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Hindi literary school, the patriotic and social poems Pant wrote during this time are popular as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Pragativad<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>poetry. His best works displaying the social reality include <\/span><\/span><\/span>Yugant\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>(End of an Age) and <\/span><\/span><\/span>Gramya\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em>(Village Girl).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Phase three: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Navchetnavad<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

As Pant grew in age, another change came into his life. His mind became more drawn towards life\u2019s \u2018big\u2019 questions. After meeting and talking to Sri Aurobindo, Pant found some clarity and he took to the path of spirituality and attempted to unite his \u201couter and inner worlds.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Hindi literary school, Pant\u2019s poetry that described this \u2018new sense of realisation\u2019 is known as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Navchetnavad<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>. The popular poem collection titles he published during this phase are; <\/span><\/span><\/span>Swarna Dhuli<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Golden Dust), <\/span><\/span><\/span>Shilpi<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Creator), <\/span><\/span><\/span>Swarna Kiran<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Golden Light Rays), and <\/span><\/span><\/span>Raja Shikhar<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Silver Peaks).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pant\u2019s Achievements<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sumitranandan Pant\u2019s biggest achievement is his inspirational poems that have the essence of timelessness to them. He has also written other kinds of literary works including drama poetry, song lyrics, and short stories, but none are more famous than his poetry. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Jayati Jayati Vidya Sansthan<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>, composed by him is used as the <\/span><\/span><\/span>kulgeet<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span> in the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from the accolades he received, Pant also made life-long friends, including Harivansh Rai Bachchan. After his death in December 1977, Pant\u2019s house was turned into a museum to help people connect with him, his life, and his works.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Also on this day:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1498 \u2013 Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, reached Calicut (now Kozhikode) after discovering the sea route to India<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1894 \u2013 Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian spiritual guru, was born<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1983 \u2013 N T Rama Rao Jr., Indian actor and singer, was born<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

References:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sumitranandan Pant, an article in the <\/span><\/span><\/span>Triveni <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>Magazine by Dr. B N Prasad, 1978.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c[Sumitranandan Pant] was, thus, a pioneer who won new frontiers of theme and expression for Hindi poetry.\u201d ~ Dr. B N Prasad, in his article in the Triveni Magazine in 1978. Sumitranandan Pant, born on 20\u00a0May 1900, in a village in the Almora district of Uttarakhand named Kausani, is renowned among readers in the Hindi language as an eminent poet… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n20 May 1900: Sumitranandan Pant, Indian Poet, was born -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"- 20 May 1900: Sumitranandan Pant, Indian Poet, was born\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20 May 1900: Sumitranandan Pant, Indian Poet, was born -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"- 20 May 1900: Sumitranandan Pant, Indian Poet, was born\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/on-this-day\/20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What Happened on This Day in History - 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