'Poet who translated Ramayan into Nepali should inspire all language lovers'

Kathmandu, Jul 13 (PTI) President Ramchandra Paudel on Sunday said all those engaged in promoting their mother language should take inspiration from Aadi Kavi Bhanubhakta Acharya, who translated Ramayan into Nepali more than 150 years ago.

Paudel was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 212th birth anniversary of Bhanubhakta Acharya, who translated Ramayan into Nepali around 170 years ago that helped popularise the language throughout the country.

“Every languages' creators, those who are engaged in promoting their mother language should be inspired by Bhanubhakta to create literature in their respective mother tongue, enhancing the Nepali society as a beautiful garden of diverse languages and literature,” President Paudel said.

“Bhanubhakta is not only a poet of the Nepali language but also a poet who loves the mother language of all,” he said at a special ceremony held at his official residence here.

Several other programmes were held across the Himalayan nation, including a procession in Kathmandu, garlanding his statue and an interaction in a municipality on the outskirts.

Born in 1814, Bhanubhakta translated Ramayan into Nepali language in around 1856. Honoured as the Aadi Kavi or the pioneer poet of the Nepali language, Bhanubhakta died in 1868.

President Paudel also urged for the development of Chundi Ramgha, Bhanubhakta's birthplace, as a literary pilgrimage site to reflect his desire to create a shared cultural environment.

“Bhanubhakta's birthplace needs to be developed as a place that people from around the world, who wish to understand Nepali culture and Nepal, must visit at least once in their lives.” Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, remarked that during times when there were no effective means of communication and information, the Ramayan created by Bhanubhakta had made a significant contribution in maintaining unity among Nepali speaking people.

Although Nepali is the most widely spoken language in the country, there are more than half a dozen languages -- Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, Nepal Bhasa, Bajjika, Magar, Doteli -- that are spoken by the diverse communities across the country, according to the 2019 report of the Language Commission of Nepal. PTI SBP NPK NPK