Vijaydan Detha, 88-year-old famous well known author of Rajasthani folk tales, died at his native village Borunda in Jodhpur on Sunday morning following a cardiac arrest.
Popularly called by name “Bijji’, Detha always confined himself in his homeland Borunda near Jodhpur throughout his life, despite numerous offers and opportunities.
Detha had over 800 short stories to his credit and gave a modern touch and identity to the folk tales of Rajasthan. “He fondly documented them and converted them into the form of stories”, said Vinod Vithall, a close associate.
He was a recipient of several awards, including Padma Shri and Rajasthan Ratna. His works include Bataan ri Phulwari (Garden of Tales), a 14-volume collection of stories that draws on folklore and spoken dialects of Rajasthan.
Recipient of Sahitya Academy award, Detha was also nominated in 2006 for the Nobel Prize for his contribution to folk tales and was conferred the Rajasthan Ratan award last year.
Many of his works have been made into films and plays by famous directors like Habib Tanvir, Mani Kaul, Shyam Benegal, Prakash Jha and Amol Palekar. Paheli, directed by Amol Palekar and starring Shah Rukh Khan was the last movie, based on his story “Duvidha”, which shot him into fame.