Durga Lal Shrestha
{{Short description|Nepalese writer (born 1935)}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Janakavi
| name = Durga Lal Shrestha
| image = Durga Lal Shrestha.jpg
| caption = Shrestha on a Zoom meeting (2021)
| native_name = दुर्गालाल श्रेष्ठ
| native_name_lang = ne
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|July 1935}}
| birth_place = Kathmandu, Nepal
| nationality = Nepalese
| occupation = Writer, poet
| notable_works = Phool ko Aankha Maa, Phoolai Sansar
| spouse = Purna Devi Shrestha
| awards = Jagadamba Shree Puraskar
}}
Durga Lal Shrestha (born July 1935) is a Nepalese poet of Nepal Bhasa and Nepali.{{Cite web|title=जनकवि दुर्गालाल श्रेष्ठको जीवनी प्रकाशित हुँदै|url=https://www.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/68229/2021-08-06|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Naya Patrika|language=en}} He was conferred with the title of Janakavi (lit. people's poet) by Nepal Bhasha Parishad in 2003. He is considered as a progressive litterateur.{{Cite web|title=Durga Lal Shrestha -- Newari author: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project (Library of Congress New Delhi Office)|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/durgalalshrestha.html|access-date=2021-12-05|website=www.loc.gov}} He was awarded the Jagadamba Shree Puraskar in 2010 for "enriching Nepalese literature by writing very melodious songs, poems, poetry and children's literature in his mother tongue (Nepal Bhasa) and Nepali language for the last six decades."{{Cite web |title=दुर्गालाल श्रेष्ठ – मदन पुरस्कार गुठी |url=https://guthi.madanpuraskar.org/people/durgalal-shrestha/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=guthi.madanpuraskar.org}}
Biography
Shrestha was born in a lower–middle class Newar family in 1935 (1992 BS) in the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu to mother Asha Moti Shrestha and father Ganesh Lal Shrestha. He received his school level education from Padmodaya Secondary School.{{Cite web |title=जनकविको जन्म |url=https://www.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/1490/2018-12-29 |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=Naya Patrika |language=en}}
He started his writing career in around 1949. His first poem titled Dui Thopa (lit. Two Drops) was published in 1952 in Suskera magazine.
He has on multiple awards including Narottamdas-Indira Award, Abhiyan Award, Noor-Ganga Award, Rashtriya Balsahitya Award, JAA Best Playwrights Medal (1991), Harihar Shastri–Savitri Devi Literary Award (2006) etc. He was also appointed as a Honorary Member of Nepal Academy in 1995.{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-11-02 |title=This Clock |url=https://thegorkhatimes.com/2020/11/02/this-clock/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=The Gorkha Times |language=en-US}}
He married Purna Devi Shrestha in {{NepaliDateConverter|2013}}.{{Cite web |last=नागरिक |title=प्रेमिल दुर्गालाल |url=https://nagariknews.nagariknetwork.com/others/170270-1549071000.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=nagariknews.nagariknetwork.com |language=ne}}
Notable works
= Published works =
His famous published work are:{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071028083309/http://www.layalama.com/writers%20profiles.htm www.layalama.com]}}
- Pija (1967)
- Ji Swayambhu Twath (1986)
- Yaka Phalecha (1987)
- Inquilabya Palasa (1991)
- Twists and Turns
- A Pick of Durga Lal Shrestha's poems (2000)
- Chiniyamha Kisicha (1965)
- Taibhaba (1966)
- Chiniya Champa (1967)
- Kulikasa (1967)
- Salachhyonya Bela (1969)
- Machabakhancha (1995)
- Santaya Kusa (2001)
- Macha Bakhancha
- Tapaka
- Jungle Kabita
=Songs=
- Soundtrack for Nepal Bhasa movie Rajamati.
- His song "Jhee Masini" ("We Are Not Dead Yet") is considered one of the most powerful songs of the Nepal Bhasa movement.
- One of his popular songs is Phool ko Aankhaa Maa, Phoolai Sansara with music by Nhyu Bajracharya and sung by the vocalist Ani Choying Lama. It is included in the album Moments of Bliss, on which all of the songs are written by Shrestha.
- He also wrote a few songs for the movie Balidan which dramatized the popular uprising against the Panchayat system and the fight to bring multiparty democracy to Nepal.
- He has written a number of songs for new Nepali singer Shweta Punjali, including her debut album Udaan.{{cite news|title=Shweta's Udaan [translated]|work=Nepal National Weekly|agency=Kantipur Publications|publisher=Kantipur Publications|date=7 June 2015}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071028083309/http://www.layalama.com/writers%20profiles.htm Layalama - Nepal Bhasa poetry]}}
- [https://durgalalshrestha.com/about Official website]
{{Nepalese writers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrestha, Durga Lal}}
Category:Newar-language writers
Category:Nepalese male writers
Category:Nepali-language writers
Category:Nepali-language poets
Category:Newar-language lyricists
Category:Newar-language poets from Nepal
Category:Jagadamba Shree Puraskar winners
{{Nepal-writer-stub}}