Motiram Bhatta (Nepali: मोतीराम भट्ट; 1866–1896) (1923–1953 BS) was a Nepalese poet, singer, essayist, publisher, literary critic and biographer.

[1][2] He is considered the first biographer and literary critic of Nepali literature and is credited for starting the first private printing press in Nepal in c. 1888.

[4] Bhatta was a polyglot and alongside Nepali, he had studied in Sanskrit, Persian, English and was also proficient in Bengali, Urdu and Nepal Bhasa.

[7] He is considered one of the seventeen national heroes (Rastriya Bibhuti) of Nepal and was given the title Yuba Kabi (Young Poet).

At the age of six he left his birthplace, Kathmandu, with his mother to receive education in Benaras, India.

Until he returned to Kathmandu, he had not written any songs or poem in Nepali language but when he came back, he started to learn about the Nepalese singing tradition.

One such meeting was organized by Bharatendu Harishchandra on samasyāpūrtis, an old poetic tradition involving riddles.

Impressed by such meeting, Bhatta started a group himself called Samasyāpūrti–maṇḍalī, which consisted of Padmavilas Panta, Kashinath, Ranganath, Tejbahadur Rana, and Chet Singh.

In the group meetings, he started composing poems using erotic or romantic style (Sringara ras in Sanskrit).

He alongside Nara Dev Pandey, Laxmi Dutta Panta, Gopi Nath Lohani, Bhoj Raj Pandey and other friends and acquaintances started a group in Kathmandu called Mitra Mandali, inspired by his group in Benaras.

He became bedridden for seven months and died in 1896 (1953 BS) on the day of Kunse Aunsi, his lunar birthday at the age of 30.

Some of the works of Motiram are Manodweg Prawah, Panchak Prapancha, Shakuntala, Priyadarsika and Pikdoot.

[15] His sher "Dui aankhi bhau ta tayaar chhan tarbar po kina chahiyo, timi aafai malik bhaigayeu sarkar kina chahiyo" is quite famous for the ghazal lovers in Nepal which translates to "Two eyebrows are sharp enough, why there be a need for sword, you happen to be a monarch yourself, why there be a need for vote?"

[17] His biography—Kabi Motiram Bhattako Sachitra Charitra Barnan, was written by his maternal uncle and fellow littérateur Nara Dev Pandey.