Govardhanram Tripathi

Govardhanram Tripathi Biography

Govardhanram Tripathi was a great novelist associated with Gujarati language. His most celebrated work – Saraswatichandra published in four volumes has been adapted to movies as well as television series. Hindi film Saraswatichandra (1968) starring Nutan and Manish was based on this novel. A TV series on Star Plus was aired in 2013-2014, an adapted version of this novel, with the same title. Leelavati Jeevankala, Navalram Nu Kavi Jeevan, Sneh Mudra, Dayaram No Akshardeh, Samalochak, Sadavastu Vichar and Classical Poets of Gujarat are other noted published works. A doyen in the field of Gujarati literature, his literal period (1885 - 1915) is called "Govardhan-Yug" or "Govardhan-Era" in Gujarati literature.

Govardhanram Tripathi was born in on 20 October 1855. He was born on the eve of Dashera festival. He completed graduation in 1875 and LLB in 1883. The following year he started his professional career as a lawyer. He continued with his profession till the age of 43. After that he dedicated his full time to writing and public service. The first volume of Saraswatichandra was published in 1887, followed by the next three volumes in the years 1892, 1898, and 1901 respectively. Since early 1900s, he got associated with social work and politics and has been a member of Indian National Congress since 1902.

He was elected as the first president of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1905. Yet he continued with his literal contributions and regularly published articles for a few magazines. His popular columns have been later published as a book. Govardhanram was a skilled lawyer who represented Gujarat’s princely states. He has also been instrumental in starting the law publishing house, NM Tripathi Pvt. Ltd, in Kalbadevi in Mumbai. He wrote Saraswatichandra between 1887 and 1902 and its total volume has more than 2000 pages. He died in 1907, aged only 52.

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Updated: April 03, 2016