>Scorpions13256 at 15:21, 21 June 2021

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{{Short description|Indian writer (1910 – 2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Durga Narayan Bhagwat
| image = Durga_Bhagwat.JPG
| imagesize = 150px
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1910
| birth_place =
| death_date = 2002
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| notableworks = Pais, Vyas Parva, Bhavmudra, Rutuchakra
| spouse =
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| children =
| relatives = [[Kamala Sohonie]], sister
| influences =
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| awards = Sahitya Academy ( Pais)
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}}
'''Durga Narayan Bhagwat''' (10 February 1910 – 7 May 2002), popularly known as '''Durga Bhagwat''', was an [[India]]n scholar, socialist and writer. She studied Sanskrit and Buddhist literature and spent time in the jungles of [[Madhya Pradesh]] to study tribal life. She later returned to [[Mumbai]] as a researcher and wrote books in [[Marathi language|Marathi]]. She is arguably the foremost female writer in Marathi. Shes one amongst the prominent writers who opposed [[The Emergency (India)]]. She also abstained from accepting such institutional and civilian honours as the [[Padma Shree]] and the [[Jnanapeeth]].

==Early years==
Durga Bhagwat was born in 1910 in a [[Karhade Brahmin]] family settled in the then princely state of Baroda. The veteran Sanskrit scholar and social activist Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat was the brother of her grandmother. Her sister [[Kamala Sohonie]] went on to become the first woman scientist of India.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} Her father was a scientist who discovered the procedure of making [[ghee]] from oil.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

Durgabai was attracted to Gandhism and took part in Indian freedom movement for a very short time. When she realised that she cannot do it for a longer time she left that and completed her studies from [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai|St. Xavier's College]]. But she continued to wear Khadi in that period. Her paternal aunt, Seetabai Bhagwat, had a great influence on Durgabai. Durgabai went to Madhya Pradesh for studying tribal culture where she had an [[idiosyncratic reaction]] to yam (Elephant foot) for which she was bed-ridden for six years. She could not complete her doctorate course.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

==Later years==
Durga Bhagwat was elected President of the 51st [[Marathi Sahitya Sammelan]], held in [[Karad]], in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://72.78.249.126/esakal/20130815/4761246431974434785.htm|title=President of Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Durga Bhagwat|accessdate=2014-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213326/http://72.78.249.126/esakal/20130815/4761246431974434785.htm|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was the second woman President of the Sammelan, after [[Kusumavati Deshpande]] since its inception in 1878. Durgabai publicly opposed the state of [[Emergency in India|Emergency]] imposed by [[Indira Gandhi]] and the arrest of [[Jaiprakash Narayan]] and was jailed by the government. After the emergency was lifted, she campaigned against the ruling [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] in the [[1977 Indian general election|1977 general election]], and remained opposed to it for the rest of her life. After the Emergency, she was offered an influential government seat by the then ruling [[Janata Party]] which she declined. She decided not to accept any state-sponsored honours and declined the [[Jnanpith Award|Jnyan Peeth Award]].

Before chairing the [[Marathi Sahitya Sammelan]], she was elected chairperson of the [[Tamasgir]] Meet and considered it a great honour.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

Durga Bhagwat never married. Her idols throughout her life had been [[Vyasa]], [[Gautama Buddha]], [[Adi Sankara|Adi Shankaracharya]], American philosopher [[Henry David Thoreau]], and Indian writer [[Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar]].

==Her contribution==
Durga Bhagwat's notable works include a biography of Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat, ''Pais'', a collection of articles based around religions, their literature and practises and ''Vyas Parva'', a book about her study of [[Mahabharat]]. She studied religious literature, particularly Buddhist, works of Marathi saints from [[Dnyaneshwar]] to [[Tukaram]], major Sanskrit works of Vyas and Adi Shankaracharya. Her book ''RRitu-chakra'', detailing the nature (particularly trees and flowers) in each Indian month, is perhaps her most famous work. During her prolonged recuperation after being food poisoned in Madhya Pradesh, she observed the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle and spurred her to write articles on each season.

Bhagwat wrote many articles on cooking and crafts and was known as the 'Marathi Saraswatachi Sarswati'.

==Selected works==

===Short stories===
* Poorva

===Novels===
* Mahanadichya tiravar

===Children's literature===
* Tulshiche lagna
* Vanwasi rajputra
* Chandralekha ani aath chor

===Other works===
* Loksahityachi ruprekha
* Athavale Tase
* Dharma ani loksahitya
* Vyas parva
* Rupranga
* Pais
* Prasangika
* Doob
* Bhavmudra
* Khamanga
* Satyam Shivam Sundaram
* Ketkaki kadambari
* Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat yanche charitra
* Rutuchakra
* Godhadi
* Dupani
* Nisargotsav
*
* Shodh Ramayanacha

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |title= [[Marathi Sahitya Sammelan| Marathi Sahitya Sammelan - President]] |before= [[Purushottam Laxman Deshpande]]|after=[[Purushottam Bhaskar Bhave]]|years=1975 at [[Karad]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhagwat, Durga}}
[[Category:Marathi-language writers]]
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian women poets]]
[[Category:Indian women educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Writers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan]]
[[Category:Women educators from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Educators from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]

Durga Bhagwat - Revision history

>Scorpions13256 at 15:21, 21 June 2021