Bhagwatilal Rajpurohit

Bhagwatilal Rajpurohit is a scholar, researcher and playwright from Ujjain who writes in Sanskrit, Hindi and Malwi. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of literature and education, from Madhya Pradesh ^[1].

Scholar

He was born on 2 November 1943 in Chandodiya village, Dhar district ^[2]. He took master’s degrees in Sanskrit, Hindi and ancient Indian history and culture, and a PhD from Vikram University, Ujjain ^[2]. He reads Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha as well, and has deciphered inscriptions in Brahmi and other old scripts ^[2].

He has served as director of the Maharaja Vikramaditya Research Institute in Ujjain and as professor of Hindi at Sandipani Mahavidyalaya ^[2]. His research has focused on the age of King Vikramaditya, the poets linked with his court, and the writings of Raja Bhoj, and he has published old copper-plate inscriptions ^[2].

Playwright and translator

Rajpurohit has written more than fifty plays in Sanskrit, Hindi and Malwi, many of which have been staged ^[2]. They range from plays on Vikramaditya, Kalidasa, Krishna and Meera to plays about freedom fighters such as Rani Durgavati and Tatya Tope ^[2]. He has translated all of Kalidasa’s plays and the Meghaduta into Malwi, and has published more than a hundred books, including the novels Vidyottama in Hindi and Lastakah in Sanskrit ^[2].

Honours

He has won the Madhya Pradesh Sanskrit Academy’s Bhoj award four times, and in 2023 received the state’s Sanskrit Shikhar Samman and the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Amrit award ^[2].