Chhayavad
The movement is typically attributed to Jaishankar Prasad, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Sumitranandan Pant, and Mahadevi Varma, often cited as the four pillars of Chāyāvād.
The movement delved into love as a spiritual and transformative force, reverence for nature as a source of solace, and the individual’s quest for identity and connection with the divine.
Anchored in new sensibilities, it concluded with the rise of the experimental spirit of Prayogvad and the socially engaged Pragativad, together reflecting the dynamic evolution of Hindi poetry in the early 20th century.
The first attempts at modern standardized Hindi poetry, based on Khari Boli, emerged during a surge of literary activity in Varanasi in the 1860s, centered around Bharatendu Harishchandra.
While initially appreciated more for its social and literary goals than for its aesthetic value, the Dwivedi yug marked a transformation in the content of Hindi poetry.
[8] Simultaneously, a younger generation of poets emerged on the fringes of the literary establishment, rejecting both the ideal prosaic moral earnestness of Dwivedi-era poetry and the narrow scope of rītī traditions.
(English translation)[12][13]Hazari Prasad Dwivedi asserted that Chāyāvād stemmed from an inward orientation of the mind and a steadfast belief in the changing human condition.
[14] Namwar Singh wrote: Regardless of its literal meaning, the term chāyāvād practically refers to the collected works of poets like Prasad, Nirala, Pant, and Mahadevi written between 1918 and 1936.
(English translation)[15]Nand Dulare Bajpai defined Chāyāvād as the subtle yet manifest beauty of nature imbued with a spiritual aura, offering a universally accepted explanation of the movement.
He said: When poetry moved away from the mythological narratives or external descriptions of women’s beauty in different lands and began expressing self-experienced emotions rooted in pain, it came to be termed Chāyāvād in Hindi.
The natural world is often depicted as a mirror reflecting human emotions, with the elements of the earth, sky, and seasons, as in Pant's Gramya and Gunjan serving as metaphors for internal states of being.
Poets explored the duality of existence, such as life and death, material and spiritual worlds, and the transient nature of time, as evident in works of like Saroj Smriti, Sneh nirjhar (Nirala), and Aansu (Prasad).
Beyond this, themes of nationalism and freedom—both personal and political—are evident in works like Kankal (Prasad), Kulli Bhat (Nirala), Shrinkhla ki Kadiyan (Mahadevi), and Pant's essay collections.
His works often include love in its diverse forms, the profound exploration of pain and anguish, the complexities of the human condition, the pursuit of spiritual ideals, and the examination of historical and mythological narratives—elements that are evident in both his poetry and prose.
Renowned for his vivid imagery, rhythmic variety, and charm, his contributions extend beyond poetry, highlighting his brilliance as a prose stylist, essayist, and critic.
Her unique blend of emotional intensity, lyrical simplicity, and evocative imagery, along with her contributions as a translator and scholar, solidified her position as a leading figure of the Chhayavad movement.
[31] Other important figures of this literary movement were Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Ramkumar Verma and Pandit Narendra Sharma.
However, subsequent scholars have criticized Chhayavad for excessive use of decorative language, romanticism aloof from contemporary social and economic malaise, and setting stricter rules on meter and rhyme.
Chhayavad continued until the latter half of the 1930s, when the golden era of modern Hindi poetry was gradually replaced by social didacticism inspired by rising nationalist fervour.
