By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, July 22: Uttam Nepali (Karmacharya), a doyen of Nepali contemporary art, a lyricist, a scholar and an actor passed away on Wednesday. He was 84.
Nepali had been suffering from heart and respiratory problems for several years.
He died while undergoing treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) at 4:30 am.
His body was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat in the presence of several Nepali artists also on Wednesday.
KK Karmacharya, the Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, and others paid their last tribute to Nepali.
Nepali had been living in Boston, USA, for a few years and had returned to Nepal in February.
He was born in 1937 in Kilagal Tol, Kathmandu to father Bishnu Prasad Karmacharya and mother Ratna Devi.
Krishna Prasad Karmacharya, Nepali’s grandfather, had migrated to India during the Rana regime.
For that reason, even though he was born in Kilagal, Kathmandu, he spent his childhood and obtained education in Lucknow, India.
After graduating in art, he got married and returned to Nepal in 1959.
Nepali had worked in the Department of Postal Services and Information Department. He also worked in Radio Nepal for some time.
During his three years period in the postal service, he designed 20-22 postage stamps, writes Mukesh Malla in his book “Uttam Nepali”.
He was also a lyricist, who appeared in an important role in the first Nepali film “Aama”. After “Aama”, he also played a small role in “Hijo Aaja Bholi”.
Nepali was also a member of Nepal Academy and had exhibited solo paintings more than a dozen times during his life span.
Nevertheless, Nepali wasn’t only excellent in fine arts but was equally proficient in Nepali literature too.
On the literature front, his first Literary Nepali articles, compositions and poems were published in 1964 in ‘Madhuparka’.
His collection of poems ‘Untitled’ was published in 2004.
He was awarded the National Talent Award, 1997, and was honoured with ‘Suprabal Janasewa Shree Tritiya’ for his portraits of poets and writers by the Nepal government.
Nepali is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.