Contents

I. Statues of Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota

Single (in Nepal):
1. Pyuthan, Bagdula. Erected probably around 1959. Probably also the very first statue of the poet.
2. Nepal Cultural Association, Kalikasthan, Kathmandu.
3. Ratna Pustakalaya, Baneshwor, Kathmandu.
4. Hetauda, Nawalpur, Makawanpur District.
5. Birendra Bahumukhi Campus, Bharatpur.
6. Bus Park. Biratnagar.
7. Devkota Chok. Biratnagar.
8. Location: Dharan. Ward No. 1. Laxmichwok, Sunsari. Erected by: Laxmi Vachanalaya with the help of Dharan Nagar Palika, Jana Sadharan and Meena Pulami. Erected on: October 31, 1997 ( Kartik 15, 2054 B.S). Unveiled by: Pundit Chhabilal Pokhrel. Sculptor: Arun Katuwal, Dharan 11. Material: Cement.
9. Devkota Chok. Kalaiya. Bara. [The statue here, like those of other non-Terai personalities, was demolished in an anti-hill people riot in 2007.]
10. Devkota Adhyan Mandal, Birgung. [The statue lies inside the precincts of Nepal Rastriya Vidhyapitha.]
11. Anamvasti, Jorpati, Kathmandu.
12. Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur. [The statue was established by students of the Central Department of Nepali in 2004.]
13. Bhadrapur, Jhapa. Devkota Smriti Bhavan.
14. Prakashpur, Chandragadi, Jhapa. Devkota Smarak.
15. Shanischare Chwok Bazar, Jhapa. 1984 (2041B.S.).
16. Kakarramahar, Jhapa.
17. Damak, Jhapa.
18. Sunauli.

Joint (in Nepal):
1. Sepa Bagaincha, Chundi, Ramgha. [A statue of Devkota and Sama.]
2. Sanchargram, Trimurti Niketan, Kathmandu. [A statue of Lekhanath Poudyal, Balakrishna Sama, and Laxmi Prasad Devkota. Beside the Ring Road near the International Tribhuvan Airport.]

Outside the Country:
1. Lhasa, (Tibet) China.
2. Devkota Sangha Pustakalaya, Pradhan Nagar, Siliguri, India.
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II. Genealogy: The Devkota Family

The poet's ancestors apparently moved from Jumla to Gorkha to Bhotahiti in Kathmandu. Thence, they moved to Dhobidhara where the poet was born. After separating from the joint family there, he bought a house in Maitidevi and named it Kavi-Kunja.

Vidhyadhar Devkota's second wife gave birth to four sons: Vachaspati, Shiva Sharma, Jita Mitra, and Jaganmani. From Jaganmani came Chandradatta who had five sons: Tilamadhava, Vishwanath, Ghanatha, Pitambara, and Medinikanta. (This is a record of the male descendents only.)

Tilamadhava (1851-June 7, 1935) gave birth to six sons and seven daughters. From his first wife, Ratnakumari, alias Jeevan Kumari, were born Ramkumari, called "Thuldi" [married to Ram Mani Sardar (Poudel)] and Prabhadevi, called "Sandi," [married to Dhungana]. From his second wife, Amar Rajya Laxmi, were born six sons and five daughters. The sons were Lekhanath [married to Somakumari and Indrakumari], Durganath [married to Kheelkumari], Laxmiprasad [married to Manadevi], Madhusudhan [married to first wife, Tirthakumari, third wife], Mitranath [married to Vimalkumari and Ganeshkumari], and Gopimadhava [married to Janaki and Prabhadevi]. The daughters were "Thuldi" or Om Kumari, [married to Gotame], "Kainlidi" or Lokpriya Devi [married to Joshi (Ghimire)], Nayan Kumari [married to Chalise], Dev Kumari [married to Poudyal], and Prem Kumari [married to Gautam].

Poet Devkota had five daughters and four sons: Sabitri Devi [married to Kalyan Nath Regmi], infant daughter (February 1935-December 1935) , Prakash Dev, Krishna Dev, Ambika Devi [married to Lokendra Nath Rimal], Meera [remains unmarried], Muna [married to Govinda Prasad Ghimire], Padma, and Dipak. In the male line, Poet Devkota has two grandsons (sons of Padma): Prajjwal and Prashanta (married Karishma Nepal on June 6, 2010). In the female line, he has 11 grandchildren: Sabitri's daughters are Sabi (Sushama), Sushama (Sanam), Sashi, Sama, Sugita, Suna (deceased), Shanti, and Sabita. She has one son--Saroj. From Muna--there are two sons: Sanjeev and Rajib.
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III. Genealogy: The Chalise Family:

In 1924, Poet Devkota married Mana Devi Chalise.

Nutiraj had one son from his first wife Deepkumari and ten children (five sons and five daughters) from his second wife Shreelaxmidevi. Six of his children did not survive their childhood. Of the sons from his second wife, Mukundaraj and Ishworraj lived to ripe age. Among the daughters, Durgalaxmi was married to Jhankanath Aryal, Lalitadevi to Nirvanakumar Pokharel, and Manadevi to Laxmi Prasad Devkota.

Sundarraj, son of Mukundaraj, being an active member of the Nepali Congress, was active in the politics of the time and met Devkota several times in Benaras.

iv. Items used by Poet Devkota in the possession of Padma Devkota

Labeda, suruwal, white navy trousers, blue half-sleeve shirt, ash-tray, pipe, some stones collected at a sea beach in India, wooden table and two chairs to go with it, parts of broken beadstead, several manuscripts, several books used by Poet Devkota, a Rolex wrist watch, a leather handbag, etc.

Padma Devkota provided a pipe, one labeda and one suruwal for exhibition to the public at the Lekhanath Sahitya Sadan (Shiksha Parishad), Sorakhutte Pati, Kathmandu, in the early days of its foundation.

v. Voted Litterateur of the Century

"Mahakabi Laxmi Prasad Devkota was voted as the person who has most influenced the Nepali literature during the last 100 years." --The Kathmandu Post Thursday, March 2, 2000.

vi. Languages that Mahakavi Devkota knew

Mahakavi Devkota was a polyglot. He knew the following languages: 1. Nepali, 2. Sanskrit, 3. Newari, 4. Hindi, 5. Bengali, 6. Urdu, 7. English, 8. French, 9. German, 10. Tamang, 11. Russian, 12. Chinese, 13. Esperanto.

He wrote "Nawa Bhabodgar" in languages (1-9). There is at least one poem in one of the Tamang dialects. He was studying Esperanto, Chinese and Russian, too, from the two volumes of Potopova.

vii. Devkota in translation

1. Into Avadhi: Muna Madan translated by Lok Nath Verma. March 2008 (Falgun 2064). Price: Rs. 30.
2. Into Braille: Muna Madan. [Note: This is really a transcription, not a translation.]
3. Into English: (see Primary Source)
4. Into German:
5. Into Korean: Portions of Muna Madan, "Vana" ("Jungle") and "Yatri" ("The Pilgrim"). Translated by photographer and poet Kim Hyoung Hyo.
6. Into Maithili: Muna Madan translated by Mr. Jha.
7. Into Russian: Collected Works. (Editor and coordinator) Krishna Prakash Shrestha. Russia CIS Nepal Industry and Commerce Society. 1999. ["This book contains not only the selected works, both poetry and prose of Nepalese poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota but some articles about his life and work as well." p.109.]
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viii. Titles from Mahakavi Devkota's personal library

Chinese

1. A book on Chinese Literature with stories and other writings by Liu Pai-Yu, His Yung, Ju Chih-Chuan, Fan Nai-Chung and many others. Front cover and front matter are missing. pp3-220, with back cover that advertises A Short History of Classical Chinese Literature by Geng Yuan-Chun still intact.]
2. Chinese Literature 6 (November-Decembr 1958).

English

1. Bihar University Calendar Vol. I. (Laws of the University). Patna: The U of Bihar, 1955.
2. Compton-Rickett, Arthur. A History of English Literature. London: Thomas Nelson, 1953. ["Lakshmi Prashad Devcota B.A. B.L. Kathmandu, Nepal. the 3rd Paush, 2010 (Rs 22/-)." Devkota has underlined many sections of the book.]
3 . Doren, Mark Van, ed. An Anthology of World Poetry. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1936.
4. Keith, A. Berriedale. A History of Sanskrit Literature. London: OUP, 1953. [Apparently bought on 31-3-56. Price. Rs. 20.]
5. Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 4th. ed. Ed. G.H. Cowling, M.A. London: Methuen, 1950.
6. Poetry vol 91.2 (November 1957. ["Compliments of The American Library, Kathmandu, Nepal.]
7. Ratcliff, A.J.J. (Ed.). Prose of Our Time. London: Thomas Nelson, 1945.
8. Varma, Devendra P. The Gothic Flame. London: Arthur Barker,1957. ["For Mr. L. N. Devkota, Education Minister of Nepal, with profound regards from the author. signed 7th. Sept. '57.]

Hindi

1. Aalochona 20 (October 1956). Eds. Dr. Bhagirath Mishra et al. India: Gajakmal Prakashan.
2. Gopikrishna. Bideshon ke mahakavya. Prayag: Sahitya Bhawan, 1946.

Nepali

Simha, Shree Ma. Kabindraman. Virahini: Katha-Sangraha. (Place of pubilcation is missing):Harihar Prasad Pradhan, 2010 B.S. (1957).

Russian

1. Soviet Literature 8 (1958).

Sanskrit

1. Siddhantakaumudhyam. A book of Sanskrit Grammar. pp15-484 with index paginated 1-28. Other pages in the front and the back are torn.
2. Vaidya, L.R. Second Edition revised by Narayan Sakharam Panse. The Standard Sanskrit-Enlgish Dictionary. Bombay: Mrs. Radhabai Atmaram Sagoon, 1916.

ix. College Classmates of Mahakavi Devkota

Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, Godattaman, Mitra Lal, Phanindra Prasad Lohani, Pinaki Prasad, Prasanna Man Singh, and Shankar Dev Pant.

x. Various Memoirs, Eulogies, Epics, etc. on Devkota

Fuinyal, Shreehari. Karmayogi Devkota. Kathmandu: Tanneri Prakashan, 2007 (2064 B.S.). Epic based on the life of Mahakavi Dekvota.

Shrestha, Hari. Mahakavi Devkota. Kathmandu: Mrs. Sarita Shrestha, 1997 (2054-5-10). Memoir.

Upadhyay, Kavi Chhabilal. Devkota (Epic). Asam: Shree Devaraj Upadhyay, 2002 (2059 B.S.). Epic based on the life of Mahakavi Devkota.

xi. Literary Awards

The poet was posthumously awarded Tribhuvan Award.

On the 14th. of July 1994, Mahakavi Devkota's Prithiviraj Chauhan was awarded the Best Work of 1992 Sajha Award. This came some thirty-three years after the poet's demise.

xii. Piracy of Devkota's Works

Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Dekvota's works have been pirated, published without authorization, assumed as private property by whoever possesses the manuscript, not paid the royalty even during the poet's lifetime, printed under the name of people who possessed the manuscript and so on. When family members demanded the poet's manuscripts from people who possessed them, they would not return the manuscripts to the rightful owners but, in the name of service to Nepali literature, published them on their own. Since justice was always unsure, the family decided to keep quiet about the whole affaire. The negative impact of this poor state of affairs was that the family was not encouraged to publish the remaining manuscripts of the poet.

Devkota's works have been translated into many languages. However, it will be interesting to ask how many of these translators have actually obtained a permission to translate the poet's works. In the name of dissimenation of Nepali literature abroad, was it right to deprive the family of the royalties?

1. The original Muna Madan that is published by Sajha Prakashan, for instance, has been published in Darjeeling, India, in a very shameless way. The cover page has the title Muna-Madan; but, instead of stating the writer's name, it says, "Dipika." In the front inside page where the writer's name is supposed to appear is written "Parikshyakaharu" or, translated literally, "Examiners." This edition has no publication date and it is published by Shyam Prakashan, Darjeeling, India. The printer is Systematic Computerized Offset Printers Pvt. Ltd., Silguri, India. Their phone numberf is 2641504 and 2641555.
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xiii. Educational Institutions Named After Devkota

Note: The following information needs further verification. We are in an early stage of collecting data.

Schools

1. Devkota Primary School, Ghosh-8, Ilam Nagarpalika, Ilam.
2. Devkota Primary School, Bhitte-3, Maipokhari, Ilam.
3. Devkota Primary School, Khantel Bari-6, Garamani, Jhapa
4. Laxmi Prasad Devkota Primary School, Sukuna Dhiki-8, Pathariya, Jhapa.
5. Devkota Secondary B. School, Khajurganchi, Jhapa (Tel: 29811)
6. Devkota Primary School, Haldibari-4, Bahuni Morang
7. Devkota Memorial Higher Secondary School, Biratnagar, Morang (Tel: 021-23419)
8. Shree Devkota Primary School, Jyamire-6, Kandebas, Baglung
9. Devkota Primary School, Kandagithi-9, Karagithi, Salyan
10. Mahakavi Devkota Ma Vi, Gulariya Nagarpalika, Bardiya.
11. Devkota Primary School, Bisauna-5, Gothi, Humla.
12. Mahakavi Devkota Higher Secondary School, Nawalparasi.
13. Mahakavi Devkota Memorial Boarding School, Mulpani, Kathmandu.

Colleges

1. Mahakavi Devkota Multiple College, Sunauli.

xiv. Organizations, Societies, Associations, etc. Named After Devkota

1. Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota Study and Research Centre. Established: June 2005 (B.S. 2062). Location 110-18, Shastrimarga, Maitidevi, Kathmandu.
2. Laxmi Vachanayalaya. Established: October 1959 (B.S. 2016). Location: Dharan--1, Sunsari.

xv. Stamp

1. A stamp honouring poet Devkota was issued on October 24, 1965 (B.S. 8-7-2022). Half million stamps were issued in sheets of 50 stamps each. Printing: photogravure. Paper: unwatermarked adhesive. Design: S.D. Ashanta. Printer: I.S. Press.

2. On the 31st of December 2009, the Director General of the Postal Service Department Mr. Lokprasad Acharya formally issued a Rs. 1 centenary stamp of Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota as per the request of Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota Study and Research Centre. 4000000 (four million/forty lakh) stamps were printed.

Last Update: Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:30

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