Dalpatram

Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi CIE (21 January 1820 – 25 March 1898) was a Gujarati language poet during 19th century in India. He was the father of poet Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi.

He led social reform movements in Ahmedabad, and wrote articles against superstitions, caste restrictions and child marriage. He dealt with the problem of widow remarriage at length in his poem, Vencharitra.

Biography Dalpatram was born on 21 January 1820 in Wadhwan, Surendranagar District, in a Shrimali Brahmin family. His father's name is Dahyabhai. Dalpatram grew up to the resonant chanting of 'mantras' and recitations of religious scriptures. He was a child prodigy and displayed his extraordinary literary skills by composing hondulas at the age of 12. He mastered the structures of rhyme, poesis and 'Vrajbhasha' as a Swaminarayan devotee under Brahmanand Swami, and later moved to Ahmedabad at the age of 24. In 1885, Dalpatram was made a Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).

Dalpatram died on 25 March 1898 at Ahmedabad. Dalpatram taught Gujarati language to Alexander Kinloch Forbes, a British colonial administrator to Ahmedabad. Gujarati was considered at the bottom of language hierarchy during those times, so he preferred to write his poems in Brajbhasha instead of Gujarati, his mothertongue. Forbes encouraged him to write in Gujarati. Forbes and Dalpatram became close friends, and he inspired Dalpatram to write Laxmi Natak published in 1849, the first modern play in Gujarati, based on Greek drama Plutus.

Forbes, who wanted Gujarati literature to develop, had helped start the Gujarat Vernacular Society. He served as its first assistant secretary and started the periodical in 1850, editing it until 1878. When Forbes died in 1865, Dalpatram composed Farbesvirah, a Gujarati elegy, and Farbesvilas, his account of the gathering of bards, both dedicated to him.

The memorial also serves as a platform for community gatherings. His plays and recitations are also enthusiastically performed on various occasions including his birthday. The Heritage department has taken the responsibility of maintenance of the Dalpatram Memorial.

Contest with Narmad Just at the time when Narmad was emerging into celebrity (1859), Dalpatram who had already won his laurels, happened to visit Bombay for treatment of his eyes. Lovers of Gujarati poetry, they met together, and in the poetical contest that took place, naturally they warmed up and their audience took sides as to who was the better poet. The result was a lifelong estrangement between the two. The contest was continued in the public papers and a humorous paper. The Parsi Punch, a weekly, published a cartoon, in which they were represented as fighting each other with the top-knot of the hair of their heads in their hands.

Legacy He was a progressive thinker and advocated the upliftment of oppressed classes and women's empowerment. He used his literary skills to bring about changes in society.

The Kavishwar Dalpatram Award is named after him.

Works His career spanned 6 books and 25 awards including drama, poems, songs, essays and articles. Hari Lila Amrut, Ven Charitra, Mithyabhiman and Laxmi are his major contributions.

Laxmi (play) Shrey (play) Bapani Pinpar (poetry) Mithyabhiman (play) Farbesvirah (elegy) Farbesvilas (poetry)