Rasiklal Chhotalal Parikh (1897–1982) was a 20th-century Gujarati poet, playwright, literary critic, Indologist, historian, and editor from Gujarat, India.
[1][2] While studying for his Master of Arts he worked at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, where he came into close contact with Indologist and scholar Muni Jinvijay who gave him some insight into the Indology and history of Gujarat.
At the same time he met Indulal Yagnik, an Indian independence activist, who inspired him to join Gujarat Vidyapith, established by Mahatma Gandhi.
[4] Parikh wrote extensively in literature, poetics, philosophy, drama, poetry, history, aesthetics and criticism.
His first publication was a Gujarati translation of Kavyaprakasha by Mammata with critical notes; he co-translated with Ramnarayan V. Pathak.
During his stay in Vidyapith, he also published Vaidik Pathavali in 1927, again a translation with critical notes of some parts of the Vedas and Brahmana.
[2] He founded a school of drama known as Natya Vidya Mandir which gave rise to the amateur theatre troupe Natmandal.
[5] His Mena Gurjari, a musical play written in Bhavai folk form, is considered a landmark in Gujarati theatre and become popular among both scholars and the public.
He delivered the Vidyaben Neelkanth Lectures Series on the novel Saraswatichandra in 1972; these were published as a book in 1976 as Saraswatichandrano Mahima – Eni Patrasrishtima.
Due to the close association with Ramnarayan V. Pathak, he was inspired to write poems, publishing frequently in Yugadharma magazine.