Entitle: Adhunik Kavi

Gopal Prasad Rimal

Gopal Prasad Rimal (गोपाल प्रसाद रिमाल) was a poet from Kathmandu, Nepal. He is considered as the first revolutionary Nepali poet and the first to reject the use of meter in poems. He is also known as Adhunik Kavi (Modern Poet) of Nepal. He introduced new forms of poetry that had rich revolutionary ideologies and raised awareness among people. He was also an established dramatist who introduced new ideas of women awareness and realism in the field of drama. He had contributed a lot to raise awareness of the people with the help of his poems and dramas.

Quick Information

Date of Birth:	1975 B.S. (1918 A.D.)
Date of Departure:	2030 B.S. (1973 A.D.)
Birth Location:	Kathmandu, Nepal
Father’s Name:	Umakanta Rimal
Mother’s Name:	Aditya Kumari Rimal
Popular Compositions:	Kaviko Gayan, Aamako Sapana, Masan, Jangi Nishan
Awards:	Madan Puraskar, Tribhuvan Pragya Puraskar
Occupation:	Poet, Playwright

Gopal Prasad Rimal was born on Jestha 18, 1975 BS in Kathmandu, Nepal. Born to an aristocratic family as a first son of father Umakanta Rimal and mother Aditya Kumari Rimal, his childhood days were spent in comfort. However, he had to struggle throughout his life because of his dissatisfaction with the Rana rule in Nepal. He was affected and worried by the social and political condition of the country and he began to express his dissatisfaction through his literary works. The presence of evidence of his dissatisfaction with the Rana rulers in his literary works resulted in his imprisonment.

Education

Rimal was a bright and hardworking student and had great interest in studies as well as sports. He passed his SLC exams with first division in the year 1992 BS and was involved in the field of literature since then. He joined Tri Chandra College for his I.A. (High school) degree and it was the end of his formal education.

Contributions

Rimal's courage, revolutionary ideas and vision for nationalism became the main reason behind his instant success and popularity in the field of Nepali literature. His literary works gave the impression of social development and better future.

His first poem was ‘Kaviko Gayan’ (song of a poet) which was published in 1992 BS in Sarada monthly magazine. His poetic anthology ‘Aamako Sapana’ (Mother’s Dream) is the collection of his short poems that reflected the democratic ideologies. Although he did not write more poems, he became a famous poet, largely because of the content and theme of his poems. His popular dramas are Masan and Yo Prem (this love) which deal with the reality that exists in Nepali society regarding women domination. He, through his dramas, always tried to give a message that women and men are equal and the man who does and wishes bad for a woman suffers through bad himself. His dramas were the first to introduce realism in Nepali drama. The story line of his drama Masan was adapted for making a Nepali movie of same name by Neer Shah. His patriotic poem Jangi Nishan became very popular and was sung by many Nepali singers.

He served as a teacher, editor, government worker and an artist along with being a literary figure. He established Juddhodaya Public School and served as a teacher there for three months. After that, in 1997 BS, he served as a Lieutenant for fourteen years. In 2001 BS, he served as a writer for nine months in Bhasanubadh Parisadh and later in 2003 BS, he became the editor of Sarada monthly magazine and even here, he could not serve freely for a long time. He was deeply affected by the death of the martyrs by hanging them to death and after 2003 BS, he got actively involved in the social and political organizations.

Notable Awards

Rimal has been awarded with the prestigious Madan Puraskar in 1910 BS and Tribhuvan Pragya Puraskar in 2030 BS.

Gopal Prasad Rimal was a great personality who worked selflessly for the development of society, nation and literature and his politeness, high and innocent emotions and attractive personality made him different than the others.

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