Background
He worked to develop his mother tongue and promote Buddhism in the face of repression by the Rana rulers. Kansakar was born at Kel Tol, Kwachhen Nani, Kathmandu. His father was Chaityabir Singh and his mother was Laxmi Nani.
He worked to develop his mother tongue and promote Buddhism in the face of repression by the Rana rulers. Kansakar was born at Kel Tol, Kwachhen Nani, Kathmandu. His father was Chaityabir Singh and his mother was Laxmi Nani.
Kansakar was the guru and inspiration of Chittadhar Hridaya, one of the greatest literary figures of 20th-century Nepal. The family owned a cloth shop. He was fined and jailed by the Ranas for promoting an unorthodox religion.
Out of prison, a dejected Kansakar went to Kolkata, India where he was inspired by the activity in Bengali language publication and love of literature among Bengalis.
Returning to Kathmandu, Kansakar took to writing poetry, and his cloth shop was turned into a gathering place for poets. Each week, they would bring a copybook filled with their compositions and discuss each other"s works.
When the Bada Guruju (chief royal priest) came to know about it, he had all the copybooks confiscated. Inspired by Tulsi Meher"s homespun movement, Kansakar campaigned to popularize homespun and encouraged people to install handlooms in their homes.
In 1927, he established a company named Vastrakala Bhavan to produce textiles.
In 1929, Kansakar headed a committee which petitioned the prime minister to be allowed to open a library. Kansakar and the rest of the signers of the appeal were arrested and fined. In 1934, all the Newar authors were summoned before the prime minister and warned to stop writing in Nepal Bhasa.
He was also harassed and flogged for his activities.
In 1940, the government mounted a clampdown against political workers, writers and anybody it saw as a threat to the state. Kansakar was arrested and held for 85 days.
An anthology of Kansakar"s poems entitled Yog-Sudha was published by Nepal Bhasa Parisad in 1951. A street in central Kathmandu was named Yogbir Singh Marg in his honor by Kathmandu Metropolitan City.