Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan 9.4.1993

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan (9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963), who is called the Father of Hindi Travelogue Travel literature because he is the one who plays a pivotal role to give travelogue a 'literature form', was one of the most widely travelled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He travelled to many places and wrote many travelogue, approximately in the same ratio. He was also famously known for his authentic description about his travel experiences, for instance- in his"Meri Laddakh Yatra" literature, he presents overall regional, historical and cultural specificity of that region judiciously.

He became a Buddhist monk (Bauddha Bhikkhu ) and eventually took up Marxist Socialism.  Sankrityayan was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches. He is referred to as the 'Greatest Scholar' (Mahapandit) for his scholarship. He was both a polymath as well as a polyglot . The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan  in 1963.