Overview
Devkota is widely regarded as the most important Nepali poet of the twentieth century, honoured in his lifetime with the title Mahakavi — “the great poet.” Born to a Sanskrit scholar in Kathmandu, he trained as a lawyer but spent his life writing poetry, plays, novels, and essays across an unusually wide range of forms and languages, in both Nepali and English and English.
Career and style
He’s credited with introducing Romanticism into Nepali literature, moving the tradition away from strict classical forms toward a more personal, emotionally direct style. He was also a prolific translator, rendering Shakespeare’s Hamlet into Nepali and his own epic Shakuntala into English.
Public life
Beyond writing, Devkota briefly served as Nepal’s Minister of Education and Autonomous Governance in 1957–58. He died in 1959 at age 49.
Legacy
His best-known work, Muna Madan, remains part of the Nepali school curriculum today and is often cited as the single most-read poem in the language.