Elangbam Nilakanta Singh

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Elangbam Nilakanta Singh
Born(1927-10-04)4 October 1927
Keisamthong Elangbam Leikai, Imphal, Manipur, India
Died11 February 2000(2000-02-11) (aged 72)
OccupationWriter
Known forLiterature
Awards Padma Shri (2000)
Sahitya Akademi Award (1987)

Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1927-2000) was an Indian poet and critic, [1] considered by many as one of the pioneers of modern Meitei literature. [2] [3] A recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987, Nilakanta Singh was honored by the Government of India, in 2000, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. [4]

Contents

Biography

Elangbam Nilakanta Singh was born at Keisamthong Elangbam Leikai in the capital of the Indian state of Manipur on 4 October 1927 [5] to Lakhi Devi and Elangbam Bokul Singh, a primary school teacher, as the eldest of their eight children. [2] [3] [6] He did early schooling at Churachandpur and continued at Johnstone Higher Secondary School, Imphal from where he passed the matriculation in 1945. His pre university studies were at Murarichand College, Sylhet, in the present day Bangladesh and later, graduated in Arts (BA) from Gauhati University. He secured a post graduate degree of MA in Philosophy and LLB also from the same university. [1] [2] [6]

Singh started his career as a lecturer at D. M. College, Manipur in 1953 where he rose in ranks as a senior lecturer and the Head of the Department. [1] He worked as the Director of the Department of Social Welfare, the Government of India from which position he retired in 1986. [1] [3] He was also a consultant at Manipur University in 1989, Senior Fellow of the Government of India in 1989 and a member of faculty of Philosophy at Manipur University from 1996 to 1997. [2] [6] He was the general secretary of Manipur Sahitya Parishad for two terms, in 1958 and from 1964 till 1968, the president during 1993-94 and the executive member till his death in 2000. [2] [3] [6] He was also involved with several other cultural societies such as Naharol Sahitya Premi Samiti, Geeta Mandal, Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy, Manipur Cultural Forum, Arabindo Society, Mutua Museum and Divine Life Society. [2] Nilakanta Singh represented the Indian cultural delegation in many overseas visits to countries such as Hungary, Germany and France under the Indo European Cultural Exchange Programme in 1971. [1]

Singh has authored several publications which included poems, critical studies, travelogues and historical and cultural essays. [3] [7] [8] [9] Some of his notable works are:

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book Tīrtha yātrā in 1987. [3] [5] [6] In 2000, the Government of India honoured him with the civilian award of Padma Shri. [2] Nilakanta Singh died on 11 February 2000, [6] before the Padma Award investiture ceremony could take place. [2] [3] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meitei literature</span> Indian literature

Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, is literature written in the Meitei language of Manipur. An ancient institution of learning, the Luwang Nonghumsang, later known as the Pandit Loishang, collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century. Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century. The Meitei script is a Brahmic abugida. It is known only from the Puya manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries were written using the Bengali alphabet. The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on the authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba. The first printed Manipuri book, Manipurer Itihas, appeared in 1890 from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. Though the kings of Manipur had established contact with the British from the middle of the eighteenth century onward the real impact of the contact came much later. Johnstone Middle English School, based on the western system of education, was started in 1885 at Imphal, and in 1891 Manipur lost its independence to the British. British domination facilitated the introduction of new systems in the civil, political and educational spheres, which hastened the process of modernization in Manipur, exposed as it was to new ideas and influences.

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References

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  8. Elangbam Nilakata Singh (October 1999). "Irabat and Social and Cultural Awakening in Manipur". MitkapThokpa.
  9. "Library of Congress". Library of Congress. 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  10. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1985). Tīrtha yātrā. Bhī. Āi. Pablikesansa. p. 111.
  11. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1973). Matamagī wākhala. p. 161.
  12. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1971). Catlasine kadāidano ibāni. Śrīelāṃbama Bijaẏakumāra Siṃha. p. 46.
  13. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1995). Manipuri Seirang. p. 296. ISBN   8172018886.
  14. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1982). Aspects of Indian culture. Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy. p. 192.
  15. E. Nilakanta Singh (1991). Saṃskr̥tigī śaklona. Imphal: Rāiṭarasa Phorama. p. 2176. OCLC   30154756.
  16. E. Nilakanta Singh (1991). Aikhoẏada haujika Rabīndranātha. Imphal: Maṇipurī Sāhitya Parishada. p. 98. OCLC   499984983.
  17. E. Nilakanta Singh, Nongthombam Biren (1972). Parishadakī Maṇipurī śaireṃ lāirika. Maṇipurī Sāhitya Parishada. p. 242. OCLC   39993271.
  18. E. Nilakanta Singh (1997). Manipuri dances. Omsons Publications. p. 143. ISBN   9788171171477. OCLC   040877008.
  19. E Nilakanta Singh (1993). Fragments of Manipuri Culture. Omsons Publications. p. 152. ISBN   9788171171095. OCLC   029595153.