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{{short description|Gujarati poet and translator}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Balashankar Kantharia
| image = BalashankarKanthariaPic.jpg
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pseudonym = Kalant Kavi, Bal,Nijanand,Mast
| birth_name = Balashankar Ullasram Kantharia
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1858|5|17}}
| birth_place = Sathodar village, [[Nadiad]], [[Gujarat]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1898|4|1|1858|5|17}}
| death_place = [[Vadodara]], Gujarat
| occupation = poet, translator
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| notableworks = ''Hariprem Panchdashi''
| spouse =
| children =
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| years_active =
}}
'''Balashankar Ullasram Kantharia''' (May 17, 1858 – April 1, 1898),<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C|volume=1|last=Sisir Kumar Das|year=2000|page=245|isbn = 9788172010065}}</ref> was a Gujarati poet.

==Biography==
Balashankar Kantharia was born on May 17, 1858 into a Sathodara [[Nagar Brahmin]] family in [[Nadiad]] (now in [[Gujarat]], India).<ref name="GPP">{{Cite web|url=https://sureshbjani.wordpress.com/2006/07/03/balashankar_kanthariya|date=3 July 2006|access-date=23 August 2016|title=બાલાશંકર કંથારીયા|language=gu}}</ref><ref name="JNT">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnJjAAAAMAAJ|title=Love Poems & Lyrics from Gujarati|last=Jeṭhālāla Nārāyaṇa Trivedī|year=1987|page=145}}</ref> He was born to Ullasram Arjunlal Kantharia, a government magistrate, and Revaba, and had one brother, Umedram, and one sister, Rukshmani. Balashankar had studied till the first year of his college. He was a polyglot and knew Gujarati, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, [[Braj Bhasa|Braj]] and Hindi languages as well as music and archaeology.<ref name="GPP"/> His wife's name was Manilakshmi.<ref name="TridipSuhrud">{{cite book |last=Suhrud|first=Tridip|author-link=Tridip Suhrud|title=Narrations of a Nation: Explorations Through Intellectual Biographies|chapter=Love, Desire and Moksha: Manibhai Nabhubhai and the Loss of Svadharma|chapter-url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/46631/8/08_chapter%203.pdf|year=1999|publisher=School of Social Sciences, [[Gujarat University]]|location=Ahmedabad|type=Ph.D|page=106|hdl=10603/46631}}</ref>

He briefly worked in government service. He managed ''Bharati Bhusan'', ''Itihas Mala'', ''Krishna Mahoday'' magazines. He served as an editor of ''[[Buddhiprakash]]'' magazine briefly.<ref name="GPP"/> He is considered as the founder of the modern Gujarati poetry and [[Ghazal]]. [[Manilal Dwivedi]] was his close friend. He considered himself as a follower of [[Dalpatram]] and was expert in poetry in ''Shikharini'' [[metre (poetry)|metre]].<ref name="GPP"/> It is believed that [[Kalapi]] had learned Ghazal poetry from him and Manilal Dwivedi.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1R2Pa3f7r0C|last=K. M. George|year=1992|page=124|isbn = 9788172013240}}</ref>

He died due to the plague, on April 1, 1898 at [[Baroda]] (now [[Vadodara]], Gujarat).<ref name="GPP"/>

== Works ==
[[File:Balashankar Kantharia plaque.jpg|thumb|[[Commemorative plaque|Plaque]] at Balashankar Kantharia's birth place]]
'''Kalant Kavi''' and '''Bal''' were his pen names. He is credited for bringing [[Persian poetry|Persian style poetry]] such as Ghazal in [[Gujarati literature]].<ref name="JNT"/> ''Kalant Kavi'' and ''Hariprem Panchdashi'' are his collections of poetry. He had translated ''Karpūramañjarī'' by [[Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet)|Rajasekhara]], ''[[Mṛcchakatika]]'' and [[Sufism in India|Sufi]] Ghazals of [[Hafez]] in Gujarati.<ref name="GPP"/>

"Gujare Je Shire Tare" is his popular ghazal poetry composed in [[Beher (poetry)#Some Examples|Bah’r Hazaj Saalim]] metre.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gujarat|volume=2|last=Smt. Hiralaxmi Navanitbhai Shah Dhanya Gurjari Kendra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4oMAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Gujarat Vishvakosh Trust}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Mehta |first=Narmadashankar |author-link=Narmadashankar Mehta |title=કવિબાલ: તેમનું જીવન અને સાહિત્યસેવા |trans-title=Poet Bal: His Life and Literary Works |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.537813 |language=gu |series=Gujarat Vernacular Society Annual Lecture Series No. 8}}

== External links ==
* {{GujLit author}}
* {{Internet Archive|id=in.ernet.dli.2015.304992|name=Kalant Kavi}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantharia, Balashankar}}
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:1898 deaths]]
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:People from Kheda district]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language poets]]
[[Category:Indian magazine editors]]

Balashankar Kantharia - Revision history

>Citation bot at 08:28, 6 April 2021