Vijaydan Detha author page

Vijaydan Detha biography

Vijaydan Detha (pen name “Bijji”) was a Rajasthani writer and folklorist, born on 1 September 1926 in Borunda, Jodhpur State, British India. He died on 10 November 2013 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. He wrote in the Rajasthani language.

He authored more than 800 short stories; his work draws heavily on the folklore, oral tradition and dialects of rural Rajasthan. Many of his stories were translated into other languages.

Detha co-founded Rupayan Sansthan, an institute that documents and conserves Rajasthani folklore, art, music and storytelling.

One of his major works is Bataan ri Phulwari (Garden of Tales), a fourteen-volume collection of stories rooted in spoken dialects of Rajasthan.

He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974, and the Padma Shri in 2007, among other honours.