Lalit Kumar Mangotra
A physicist and leading Dogri writer who has chaired the Dogri Sanstha for 30 years and helped bring Dogri to computers, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
Lalit Kumar Mangotra spent his working life as a physicist, and his writing life championing Dogri, the language of Jammu. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of literature and education, from Jammu and Kashmir [1].
Physicist
Mangotra was born on 14 April 1944 [2]. He earned his master’s in physics in 1968 and a PhD in high-energy physics from the University of Jammu in 1974, and retired as professor of physics in 2004 with more than 300 scientific publications [2].
Dogri writer
His first Dogri short story appeared in 1976 [2]. He has since published 13 books of fiction, poetry, essays and criticism, several of them taught in postgraduate Dogri courses [2]. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011 [2].
Dogri for the digital age
For about thirty years he has chaired the Dogri Sanstha, the oldest literary organisation in Jammu and Kashmir [2]. His particular contribution has been bringing Dogri into information technology: localising 11 software tools into Dogri, building an online Dogri-English dictionary and adapting a computer course into the language [2].
He has served twice on the Press Council of India and on the Sahitya Akademi’s executive board [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Lalit Kumar Mangotra — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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