1. Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi was a Gujarati language poet during 19th century in India.
21 Facts About Dalpatram
1. 2.
Dalpatram was the father of Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi, a poet.
3.
Dalpatram led social reform movements in Ahmedabad, and wrote articles against superstitions, caste restrictions and child marriage.
4.
Dalpatram dealt with the problem of widow remarriage at length in his poem, Vencharitra.
5.
Dalpatram was born on 21 January 1820 at Wadhwan city of Surendranagar district in a Shrimali Brahmin family.
6.
Dalpatram grew up to the resonant chanting of 'mantras' and recitations of religious scriptures.
7.
Dalpatram was a child prodigy and displayed his extraordinary literary skills by composing hondulas at the age of 12.
8.
Dalpatram 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.
9.
Dalpatram taught Gujarati language to Alexander Kinloch Forbes, a British colonial administrator to Ahmedabad.
10.
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.
11.
Dalpatram served as its first assistant secretary and started the periodical in 1850, editing it until 1878.
12.
When Forbes died in 1865, Dalpatram composed Farbesvirah, a Gujarati elegy, and Farbesvilas, his account of the gathering of bards, both dedicated to him.
13.
Unlike Narmad, another prominent Gujarati poet of the same period, Dalpatram supported British rule for the benefits it gave India.
14.
Dalpatram supported social reforms such as opposition to child marriage and allowing widows to remarry.
15.
Dalpatram's poems had subjects like English law, how to write an essay, and even "trees in a college compound".
16.
Dalpatram was an authority on meters and wrote a treatise, Pingal, which was used by scholars as a source book for many decades.
17.
Dalpatram's plays and recitations are enthusiastically performed on various occasions including his birthday.
18.
Just at the time when Narmad was emerging into celebrity, Dalpatram who had already won his laurels, happened to visit Bombay for treatment of his eyes.
19.
Dalpatram was a progressive thinker and advocated the upliftment of oppressed classes and women's empowerment.
20.
Dalpatram used his literary skills to bring about changes in society.
21.
Dalpatram's career spanned 6 books and 25 awards including drama, poems, songs, essays and articles.