Chandranath Mishra Amar

Chandranath Mishra ‘Amar’ is a Maithili writer and poet. He is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award for his 1982 work Maithili Patrakaritak Itahas.^[1] He also won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship for the year 2010.^[2]

Early Life & Literary Career

Pt. Sri Chandranath Mishra's biography may be reckoned as a chronicle itself of modern Maithili language and literature as well as cultural behaviour of Mithila. The dimensions of his ancestral, familial, literary, educational and social ties and obligations have been expansive, solemn and profound. Personalities like Mahamahopadhyaya Umesh Mishra and Rajpundit Baldeo Mishra treated him as brother. Dr Shubhadra Jha was his maternal uncle in relation and Yatri-Nagarjuna, his sister's son. he had brotherly relation with celebrities no less great than Kavivar Sitaram Jha, Babu Bhola Lal Das, Pt. Kashikant Mishra 'Madhup', Arsi Prasad Sinha, Prof Harimohan Jha and Kanchinath Jha 'Kirana', whereas the tangle with Ram Krishna Jha 'Kishun' as to who was the older of the two could not be resolved so far. That's why each addressed the other as "baraka bhai". Owing to his abundant reverence for and submission to his seniors, his cordiality and cooperation for his contemporaries, and his disinterested and innocent attitude, abundant love and affection, and encouraging gesture towards hi juniors, almost all Maithili literature in between 5th and the last decade of the twentieth century were hand in glove with him.

Contribution to Maithili Literature

A maithili teacher at M. L. Academy, Laheriasarai, secretary, Navaratna Gosthi and Vidyapati Gosthi, he has been one of the main pillars of Maithili Sahitya Parishad, editor of magazines like Vaiddehi and Nirmana. Credit goes to him for establishing institutions of Maithili volunteers and serving as a beacon light towards holding Vidyapati Samaroha and Kavi-Sammelan, arousing a good number of literary talents from their long slumber and invigorating them to show their mettle on the literary arena. Enrichment of Maithili tongue and initiation of completely trustworthy disciplines into divine office marks the culmination of his achievement as a prolific writer.

Honours & Awards

• Founder Secretary, Navratna Gosthi, Darbhanga(1943)
• General Secretary, All India Maithili Sahitya Parishad (1957)
• Language Director and Actor in First Maithili film Kanyadan directed by Phani Majumdar (1964)
• Member, Senate, KSDS University, Darbhanga (1982)
• Sahjitya Akademi Award for Maithili Patrakaritak Itihas (1983)
• Member, Maithili Language Advisory Board, Sahitya AkademiNew Delhi(1983)
• Member, Executive Committee, Maithili Academy Patna (1988)
• Member, Programme Advisory Committee, All India Radio, Darbhanga (1993)
• Sahitya Akademi Translation Award for Parashuramak Bichhal Berayal Katha (1998)
• Covenor, Maithili Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (2003)
• Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (2010)

List of works

Poetry

• Gudgudi (1946)
• Yugachakra (1952)
• Ritupriya (1963)
• Unta Pal (1972)
• Asha-Disha (1975)
• Thahi-Pathahi (2001)

Novel, Short-Story & Criticism

• Veer Kanya (1950)
• Bidagari (1963)
• Jasamadhi (1972)
• M. M. Muralidhar Jha (1980)
• Kashikant Mishra 'Madhup'(1994)
• Dinanath Pathak Bandhu (1994)
• Zero Power (2006)

One-Act Play

• Samadhan (1995)
• Khajwa Topi (2005)

Memoir

• Kanyadan Filmak: Nepathya Katha (2003)

Miscellaneous

• Trifla (1948)
• Maithili Patrikaritak Itihas (1981)
• Swatantra Swar (1994)
• Parashuramak Bichhal Berayal Katha (1995)
• Maithili Sahitya Parishadak Itihas (1995)
• Maithili Mahasabhak Itihas (1995)

Translation

• Vidyapati Sukti Taranginee
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
• H. N. Apte

Editing

• Lok Sahitya (Research Papers)(2006)
• Maithili Ragmanch (Research Papers)(2007)
• Jagle Rahbai (Poetry) (2007)
• Labani Parak Deep (Poetry)
• Sandhi Samas (Short Story)
• Katha Kislay (2007)

References