13 July 2024
Sikkim Regional holiday | Saturday |
Bhanu Jayanti is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Bhanubhakta Acharya Aadikavi. It is celebrated as a state holiday in the state of Sikkim. It falls on the 29th day of the month of Ashad in the Nepali calendar. Bhanubhakta Acharya was a Nepali poet, translator and writer. He was the first-ever writer to translate the great Hindu epic Ramayana from Sanskrit to Nepali. He is immensely respected and honoured with the title of Aadikavi of the Nepali language.
Earlier, South Asian languages including the Nepali language was mostly limited to oral medium. All the famous literary texts were predominantly in Sanskrit language and incomprehensible for the people speaking Nepali. Moreover, the brahmins were the only caste that had access to the text. Hence, Acharyas contributions to the translation of Ramayana during his era in the Nepali language was highly significant in breaking these language barriers. During his lifetime, he wrote two great masterpieces. They were Bhanubhaktey Ramayan translate into Nepali and a letter he wrote to the Prime Minister when he was in prison. He wrote a poem to the prime minister demanding for his release from prison as his health was deteriorating and his case was not even heard. He won his freedom from the prison with this poem. Apart from being released from prison, he was given and awarded money.
Bhanu Jayanti is celebrated as a literary day by the Indian Gorkha community. It is considered the duty of every Gorkhali to preserve the Nepali Language like other communities such as Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi etc preserve their own languages. Hence, they celebrate Bhanu Jayanti to pay their respects to the man who broke the language barriers for the Nepali speaking population of India. They aim to preserve the Nepali language and their heritage.