Entitle: Rashtra Kavi

Madhav Prasad Ghimire

Madhav Prasad Ghimire (माधव प्रसाद घिमिरे) also known as Rashtra Kavi (Poet of Nation), is a poet of romantic tradition. He is among the last of the older generation of poets in Nepal.

Quick Information

Date of Birth:	1976 B.S. (1919 A.D.)
Date of Departure:	2077 B.S. (2020 A.D.)
Birth Location:	Lamjung, Nepal
Father’s Name:	Gauri Shankar Ghimire
Mother’s Name:	n/a
Popular Compositions:	Gauri, Malati Mangale, Shakuntala
Awards:	Bhanubhakta Award, Tribhuvan Pragya Puraskar
Occupation:	Poet, Journalist, Scholar

Madhav Prasad Ghimire was born on 7th Ashwin, 1976 BS in a village named Pustun in Lamjung district of Nepal. He spent his childhood life in that district among the hills. His mother died when he was 3 years old. And thus, he was brought up by his father Gauri Shankar Ghimire and his grandmother.

Education

He learned to read at the age of 6 and learned the Panchanga from a man named Fulebaba at the age of eight or nine. He left his home at the age of eleven and went to Duredada village to study Sanskrit. Afterwards, he migrated to Kathmandu to study at Sanskrit Pradhan Pathshala and Tindhara Sanskrit Pathshala. He then left for India for his further studies and studied in Banaras for a time.

Contributions

He first published at the age of 14 in Gorkhapatra. His work was titled Gyanpuspa. He also worked as the co-editor of Gorkhapatra later in his life. After completing his studies from Banaras, he worked as a writer for Bhashanubad Parishad in 1998 BS and as a co-editor at Gorkhapatra in 2001 BS. In 2008 BS, he returned to his home village and worked as a teacher for brief period. In 2010 BS, he became a member of Kavya Pratisthan lead by Laxmi Prasad Devkota. His most popular work is Gauri, a lament on the loss his wife. On 2073 BS, he participated in Melancholy, a song intended to send an environmental message by breaking the Guinness World Record for "Most Vocal Solos in a Song Recording".

He has written poems, long narrative poems, lyrical-epic poems, and ballads and has rendered immense contribution to the enrichment of Nepali literature. The Royal Nepal Academy's Modern Nepali Poems (1972 First ed.) commends his poems as ‘manifestations of the Nepalese life'. Some of his most praised pieces are Aafnai Bansuri Aafnai Geet, Asvatthama:Gitinatak, Gauri, Malati Mangale, Indrakumari, Rajesvari, Shakuntala, and Rashtra-Nirmata.

Notable Awards

Ghimire was the Vice Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy from 1979 to 1988 and Chancellor from 1988 to 1990. During his tenure, he led delegations to China, Russia, and Bangladesh. For his work, he has received the Distinguished Academy Medal, Shree Prasiddha Praval Gorkha Dakshinabahu, Bhanubhakta Award, and Tribhuvan Pragya Puraskar among others.

A simple man with complex and diverse perception, Rashtra Kavi Ghimire has been cited as the source of inspiration in Nepali literature fraternity. Not just writing, but his willpower to live has also been inspiration to lots of Nepalese. According to him, there are three mantras to live longer; light exercise or yoga, positive thinking and creativity. For him, education is very important in one’s life as it guides an individual to light from darkness.

NOTES:
All dates except date of birth (and those which are immediately followed by B.S.), are in A.D.