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{{Short description|Indian folklorist (1940–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Joravarsinh Jadav
| image = Joravarsinh jadav photo.jpg
| image_upright =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1940|1|10}}
| birth_place = Akru, [[Dhandhuka]], Bomaby Province, British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2025|11|07|1940|1|10}}
| death_place = [[Ahmedabad]], Gujarat, India
| occupation = Vice-chairman of [[Sangeet Natak Academi]], Folklorist
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| residence =
| nationality =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| home_town =
| period =
| genre =
| notableworks =
| spouse = {{marriage|Sajjankunwarba|May 1963|1968|end=her death}} {{marriage|Hemkunwarba |6 March 1969}}
| children =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] (2019)
| signature = Joravarsinh Jadav autograph.jpg
| years_active =
| website = 
}}

'''Joravarsinh Danubhai Jadav''' (10 January 1940 – 7 November 2025) was an Indian [[folklore studies|folklorist]] and proponent of the [[folk arts]] from [[Gujarat]]. Exposed to folk culture as a child, he studied history and culture in [[Ahmedabad]]. He wrote and edited more than 90 works on [[Folklore|folk culture]], [[Oral literature|folk literature]], and folk arts. He established the Gujarat Lok Kala Foundation for the promotion of folk arts. He was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] in 2019. He was also the Vice-chairman of the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sangeetnatak.gov.in/who-is-who|title=Vice Chairman|website=sangeetnatak.gov.in|publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi|access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref>

==Early life==
Jadav was born on 10 January 1940 in Akru village near [[Dhandhuka]], [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay Province]] (now in [[Ahmedabad district]], Gujarat) to a karadiya [[Rajput]] Jagirdar family. His parents were Danubhai Halubhai Jadav and Pamba. He was the second of six children.<ref name="GVK" />{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=8–9}} He was raised by his stepmother, Gangaba.{{snf|Vaghela|2011|p=12}}

He was exposed to folk literature and folk arts as a child due to his living in a rural area.<ref name="GVK" /> He received his primary school education in his village and in Sheth Hasanali High School in [[Dholka]]. He received his secondary school education from [[Gujarat Vidyapith]] in 1956–57.{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=16–19}} In 1961, he completed his bachelor of arts degree in [[Gujarati language]] and History at [[St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad|St. Xavier's College]], Ahmedabad.<ref name="GVK" />{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=19–20}}

Jadav found the remains of a Late [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Harappan]] site on a mound near the Khalavi lake near his native village of Akru.<ref name="GVK"/> This whetted his interest in archaeology and history, and he completed his master of arts in Ancient Indian Culture at the Bholabhai Jeshingbhai Institute of Learning and Research, Ahmedabad, in 1963.<ref name="GVK" />{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=19–20}} His interests in folk literature, folk culture, and folk arts developed further during these years.<ref name="GVK">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતી વિશ્વકોશ|last=Madia|first=Amitabh|publisher=Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust|date=January 2002|editor-last=Thaker|editor-first=Dhirubhai|editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|volume=XV|location=[[Ahmedabad]]|pages=883–884|trans-title=Gujarati Encyclopedia|language=gu|oclc=248968453}}</ref>

==Career==
After completing his master's degree, he became a teacher of Gujarati at Panchsheel High School in Saraspur, Ahmedabad. He left and joined St. Xavier's College as a part-time lecturer.{{snf|Vaghela|2011|p=26}} In 1964, he joined the ''Sahkar'' weekly published by the Gujarat State Co-operative Union as a publication officer. He was later promoted to the post of chief executive officer in 1994 and served there until his retirement in 1998. He also edited and published the ''Gramswaraj'' monthly<ref name="GVK"/>{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=26–27}} and edited the ''Jinmangal'' monthly.<ref name="GVK"/>

Jadav popularised folk arts and patronised folk artists by promoting them on various mass media sites, including television and radio. In 1978, he established the Gujarat Lok Kala Foundation for the promotion of the folk arts and to give folk artists from Gujarat and [[Rajasthan]] wider exposure and employment. The Foundation provided a platform for folk artists at the national and international levels.<ref name="GVK"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/others/six-from-gujarat-get-padma-awards/articleshow/67694811.cms|title=Six from Gujarat get Padma awards|date=26 January 2019|website=[[Ahmedabad Mirror]]|access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Jadav married Sajjankunwar, the daughter of Vadansinh Chavda, in May 1963. They had two daughters before his wife died in an accident in 1968. Jadav then married Hemkunwar, the daughter of Pethabhai Solanki, in 1969; they had two daughters and a son.{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=21–22}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.feelingsmultimedia.com/life-is-the-hallmark-of-my-wife-joravar-singh-jadav/|title=જીવન સંસ્કૃતિની ધરોહર છે મારી પત્ની'- જોરાવરસિંહ જાદવ|last=Trivedi|first=Pradeep|date=7 June 2017|website=Feelings Magazine|publisher=Feelings Multimedia Ltd.|language=gu|trans-title=My wife is the foundation of my life: Joravarsinh Jadav|access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

Jadav died on 7 November 2025, at the age of 85.<ref>[https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/veteran-folk-artistejoravarsinh-jadav-dies-at-85-10352121/lite/ Veteran folk artiste who mentored many, Joravarsinh Jadav dies at 85]</ref>

==Works==
As of 2019, Jadav had written and edited 110 Books on folk literature, folk culture, and folk arts.<ref name=":0" />{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=30–31}} Since 1958, his articles on folk literature and folk arts have been published in various magazines and dailies, including ''[[Buddhiprakash]]'', ''Nutan Gujarat'', ''Rang Tarang'', ''Akhand Anand'', ''[[Sandesh (Indian newspaper)|Sandesh]]'', and ''[[Gujarat Samachar]]''.<ref name="GVK"/>{{snf|Vaghela|2011|pp=30–31}}

His collections of folk stories set in a rural background are ''Marad Kasumbal Rang Chade'' (1968), ''Maradai Matha Sate'' (1970), ''Loksahityani Chaturaikathao'' (1974), and ''Rajput Kathao'' (1979). His collections of children's stories include ''Bhatigal Lokkathao'' (1973) and ''Manoranjak Kathamala'' (1977). His reference works on folk literature and arts include ''Aapna Kasabio'' (1972), ''Lokjivanna Moti'' (1975), ''Gujaratni Loksanskriti'' (1976), ''Loksanskritina Pashuo'' (1979), and ''Prachin Bharatna Shastrashastro'' (1981). For ''Gujarati Loksahityamala'' (Gujarati Folk Literature Series), he edited folk songs from the [[Bhal region]]. He has edited several works of folk literature, including ''Saje Dharati Shangar'' (1972), ''Loksahityani Nagkathao'' (1973), and ''Gujaratni Lokkathao'' (1984).<ref name="GVK"/><ref name="Guj1984">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byIbAAAAIAAJ|title=Gujarat State Gazetteers: Ahmadabad District Gazetteer|publisher=Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Gujarat State|year=1984|page=762}}</ref>

==Recognition==
Jadav was awarded the Meghani Suvarna Chandrak in 1978 by the Loksanskriti Sodh Sansthan for his work ''Lokjivanna Moti''. The [[Gujarat Sahitya Akademi]] awarded a prize for his ''Loksanskritima Pashuo''. ''Aapna Kasabio'' Volume I received the first prize from the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training|NCERT]], and ''Doshino Deekro Bayadi Lavyo'' received a prize from the [[Government of Gujarat]].<ref name="GVK"/>

In 2019, Jadav was awarded the [[Padma Shri]], the fourth highest civilian honour from the [[Government of India]], for his contributions to the field of art.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Padma Awards: 2019|url=https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/Padma_Awards_2019.pdf|publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|date=25 January 2019|access-date=25 January 2019|pages=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125171903/https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/Padma_Awards_2019.pdf|archive-date=25 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/the-6-padma-shri-awardees-gujarat-5567459/|title=The 6 Padma|date=4 February 2019|website=The Indian Express|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite thesis |last= Vaghela|first=Virbhadrasinh J. |date=September 2011 |title=Shri Joravarsinh Jadav: Ek Adhyayan|script-title=gu:શ્રી જોરાવરસિંહ જાદવ : એક અધ્યયન|trans-title=Mr. Joravarsinh Jadav: A Study |type=PhD thesis |publisher= Department of Gujarati, [[Saurashtra University]] |docket=VAGVJ11GU12 |url= http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/854/|access-date=22 March 2019|language=gu}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9fSG-pDLc0 A Documentary produced by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi (in Gujarati)]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jadav, Joravarsinh}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ahmedabad district]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian children's writers]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Indian editors]]
[[Category:Indian folklorists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]

Joravarsinh Jadav - Revision history

TeresitaBunch at 10:13, 27 March 2026