A commemorative postage stamp on the famous Hindi poet Sumitranandan Pant will be issued on December 23. This will be the first occasion when a commemorative postage stamp will be issued on a literary personality of Uttarakhand. The commemorative stamp will be released by Uttarakhand governor Krishan Kant Paul at the Raj Bhawan here.
Impressed by Pant’s creativity, his love for nature, depiction of beauty, progressive and humanitarian philosophy, the governor had submitted a proposal to the Central Government in June 2015 for issuing the commemorative postage stamp on Pant in order to picturise his commendable contribution in the field of literature.
Born on May 20, 1900 in Kausani village of Almora district, Pant was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets considered one of the major poets of the Chayawadi school of Hindi literature. Pant mostly wrote in Sanskritised Hindi. Pant authored twenty-eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays.
Apart from Chhayavaadi poems, Pant also wrote progressive, philosophical, socialist and humanist poems. He was the first Hindi poet to receive the Jnanpith Award in 1968. Chidambara, Veena, Pallav, Gunjan, Gramya, Yugant, Yugvani, lokayatan, Kala aur Boodha Chand are among his famous works.
He was also awarded the Nehru Peace Prize by the Soviet Union for lokayatan, apart from the Sahitya Akademi award for Kala Aur Boodha Chand and also and Padma Bhushan for his commendable contribution in the field of literature. He died on December 28, 1977 and the commemorative postage stamp is being issued as a tribute to him prior to his death anniversary. Pant’s closest family relatives have also been invited to this programme slated to be held at the Raj Bhawan.