Maharaja Vibhuti Narayan Singh (5 November 1927 – 25 December 2000) was the king of Benares, a city considered holy, located in the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

. He was the last

Bhumihar Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmi ...

king of the Kingdom of Kashi.

Childhood

Vibhuti Narayan Singh was born on 5 November 1927. He was adopted in June 1934 by

Maharaja Aditya Narayan Singh Maharaja Aditya Narayan Singh (17 November 1874 – 4 April 1939) was the Maharaja of Benares (1931–1939). He would reign for only seven and a half years before dying in 1939, aged 65, but in this short period of time established Colleges for hi ...

(1874–1939), the King of Benares. The day after the Maharaja's death on 4 April 1939, Vibhuti Narayan Singh was appointed his successor to the

Narayan dynasty The Narayan dynasty was the ruling family of Benares. After its liberation from Awadh, independence ( s''waraj'') was established in Benares by Maharaja Balwant Narayan Singh in the 18th century. Since then, the family has ruled Benares. In 1911, ...

Education

Singh studied at

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest pu ...

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...

. He received his master's degree in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, where he studied with the famous grammarian,

Vagish Shastri Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi (15 July 1935 – 11 May 2022), better known as Vagish Shastri, was an Indian Sanskrit grammarian, linguist, tantra and yogi. In 2018, Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri for ...

. He was a scholar of Sanskrit,

Veda upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

and

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

Contribution

On 28 January 1983 the Vishwanath Temple was taken over by the government of Uttar Pradesh and its management was transferred to a trust of which Singh was president. In 1947, under his leadership, the Shree Kashi Naresh Education Trust laid the foundation of the Kashi Naresh Government Post Graduate College (KNPG), in the Gyanpur of Bhadohi district (U.P). An intermediate college is named after him in Gyanpur and another in Surajpur at Mau district in Uttar Pradesh.

Death

Singh died on 25 December 2000. His body was cremated with

state honors State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our ...

Manikarnika Ghat Manikarnika Ghat ( Hindi: मणिकर्णिका घाट) is one of the holiest cremation grounds among the sacred riverfronts ( ghats), alongside the river Ganges, in the city of Varanasi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In ...

in Varanasi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, H.H.Maharaja.Vibhuti Narayan Banaras Hindu University alumni Indian Hindus 1927 births 2000 deaths Indian Sanskrit scholars Maharajas of Benares Narayan dynasty 20th-century Indian royalty People from Varanasi Scholars from Varanasi