14 Facts About Harilal Upadhyay

Harilal Upadhyay was born on 22 January 1916 in Mota Khijadiya village near Rajkot in a family of Jadavji and Gangaben.

Harilal Upadhyay's father was a priest in a temple at Makaji Meghpar.

Harilal Upadhyay completed his primary education from Paddhari while living with his father's elder brother Bhavanishankar and sister Dayakunwarben.

Harilal Upadhyay moved to Jamnagar and studied in Sanskrit Pathshala where he mastered in traditional rituals and texts under Trambakram Shastri.

Harilal Upadhyay started writing poetry during his stay in Jamnagar.

Harilal Upadhyay was connected with traditional bards and folk stories during this period.

Harilal Upadhyay returned to Makaji Meghpar but he was not interested in priesthood.

Harilal Upadhyay's uncle Bhavanishankar was a traditional story teller and musician who used to go to different princely states for performance in royal courts.

Harilal Upadhyay went with him to different places and started taking notes on folk stories, incidents and folk songs.

Harilal Upadhyay met Vajubhai Shulka, an Indian independence activist from Rajkot.

Harilal Upadhyay studied politics there and wrote a 500 stanza long poem, "Tanya".

Harilal Upadhyay later moved to Paddhari and continued to write from there.

Harilal Upadhyay died on 15 January 1994 in Paddhari, Gujarat, India.

Harilal Upadhyay wrote seven book series on Indian epic Mahabharata which include Bhishma Pratigna, Dharma Pratigna, Kurukshetra, Bhishma No Shantibodh, Dharma Vijay, Mahaprasthaan and Yog Viyog.