RAS question
Vijaydan Detha, the renowned Rajasthani littérateur, is best known for which literary contribution?
Correct answer: (D) Batan ri Phulwari — a collection of Rajasthani folk tales.
Vijaydan Detha is best known for Batan ri Phulwari, his 14-volume collection of Rajasthani folk tales.
Explanation
Vijaydan Detha, also known as Bijji, was a major modern Rajasthani prose writer from Borunda, Jodhpur, and the question asks for the work most closely associated with his literary contribution. The cited Hindustan Times piece supports the core point: Detha spent nearly five decades gathering oral tales from across Rajasthan and preserving them in writing. That collection became Batan ri Phulwari, described as a 14-volume anthology and translated in English as Garden of Tales. This is why option D fits: it identifies both the title and the nature of the work, a collection of Rajasthani folk tales. His significance lies not in painting, lexicography, or classical Dingal compilation, but in converting Rajasthan's oral narrative tradition into literary Rajasthani prose.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Pabuji ra Phad refers to a traditional painted-scroll and oral narrative tradition, whereas Detha's recognised contribution here is written prose based on collected folk tales.
- (B) Rajasthani Shabd Kosh is a dictionary-related contribution associated with Sitaram Lalas, not Vijaydan Detha's folk-tale anthology.
- (C) Dingal Kavya Sangraha points to classical Dingal poetry, while Detha is identified with modern Rajasthani prose and the retelling of folk narratives.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's literary culture, especially the distinction between folk traditions, modern Rajasthani prose, lexicography, and classical poetic forms. RAS often asks such questions because cultural personalities are tested through their signature works, not just their names.