Q. Who was known as “Janakavi—the People’s Poet”?
Answer:
Nagarjun
Notes: Nagarjun was known as “Janakavi—the People’s Poet”. He was a major Hindi and Maithili poet who has also penned a number of novels, short stories, literary biographies and travelogues. He often wrote on contemporary social and political issues. Besides these accepted subjects of poetry, Nagarjun found poetic beauty in unconventional subjects like a series of poems on a full-grown jackfruit etc. Because of the breadth of his poetry, Nagarjun is considered the only Hindi poet after Tulsidas to have an audience ranging from the rural sections of society to the elite. Nagarjun was given the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1969 for his historic book Patarheen Nagna Gachh and the ‘Bharat Bharati Award’ by the Uttar Pradesh government for his literary contributions in 1983. He was also honoured by the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India’s highest literary award for lifetime achievement in 1994.