Moti Laxmi Upasika (Nepali: मोतिलक्ष्मी उपासिका) (30 June 1909 – 1997) was Nepal's first woman poet and short story writer of modern times. Her first work, a short story, was published in 1935.[1]
Moti Laxmi Upasika (also spelled Motilakshmī Upāsikā) was born in Kathmandu to father Drabya Dhar and mother Gyan Laxmi Tuladhar. Her father was a merchant who owned a business house in Lhasa, Tibet. Her brother was poet Chittadhar Hridaya.[2][3] She received informal education in Sanskrit, Pali and English.[4]
Upasika, who also wrote under the pen name M. Laxmi, published her first work in 1935, a story in the Nepali language entitled Rodan. It appeared in Sharada magazine published from Kathmandu.
She started writing in Nepal Bhasa with a poem entitled Chitta Panchhi (meaning "Heart bird") and a story Lan ("Road") which were published in Dharmadoot in 1944.[5]Dharmadoot was a Buddhist magazine published in Hindi by the Maha Bodhi Society from Sarnath, India. It also published contributions in Nepal Bhasa at the request of its subscribers in Nepal.[6][7]
Portrait of Upasika
Though most of her essays deal with religious subjects, her writings have been described as a bridge between religious and free prose.[8] Her essays are characterized by simple language and a powerful way of expressing her opinions.[9]
^Tuladhar, Prem Shanti (2000). Nepal Bhasa Sahityaya Itihas: The History of Nepalbhasa Literature. Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Academy. ISBN99933-560-0-X. Page 183.
^LeVine, Sarah and Gellner, David N. (2005). Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal. Harvard University Press. ISBN0674019083, 9780674019089. Page 39.
^Hridaya, Chittadhar; Lewis, Todd Thornton; Tuladhar, Subarna Man (2009). Sugata Saurabha: An Epic Poem from Nepal on the Life of the Buddha. Oxford University Press. ISBN0195341821, 9780195341829. Page 377.
^Bajracharya, Phanindra Ratna (2003). Who's Who in Nepal Bhasha. Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Academy. ISBN99933-560-0-X. Page 44.
