Yogmaya Neupane

Yogmaya Neupane (Nepali: योगमाया न्यौपाने) (1860–1941) was a religious leader, women's rights activist and poet based in Bhojpur district of Nepal. Yogmaya is considered to be among the pioneer female poets in Nepal with her only published book of poems, the Sarwartha Yogbani (In Nepali: सर्वार्थ योगवाणी) considered to be her most notable contribution.

Yogmaya’s poems are set around the time when Nepal was ruled by the Rana regime and when India was ruled under the British raj. Her style, characterized by the cultural and political oppression of the time was distinctly original and courageously outspoken. Despite putting a significant focus on the Hindu religious context as a religious leader, her poems and activism themes heavily revolved on female and minority rights in the region, which appealed to a lot of people around the time. In her later years, her activities were heavily monitored by the government and her works were banned by the authorities under the command of the Rana rulers and despite the persecution of her group, she is notable for opting to remain in Nepal and spending her last days around her birthplace in Eastern Nepal. It is also regarded that Yogmaya founded the first organization of Nepali women, the Nari Samiti for women's rights in 1918, which was considered to be the main lobby behind the abolition of the Sati Pratha in Nepal in 1920.

Yogmaya's activism begun after she declared renunciation and returned to Nepal. With the authorities increasingly harsh towards Yogmaya and her group of supporters, as well as, unwilling to reform their brutal and corrupt approach to governance, Yogmaya and her 67 disciples consciously committed the biggest mass suicide (Jal-Samadhi) in Nepali history by jumping into the Arun River in 1941. In January 2016, the Nepal Government issued a postage stamp recognizing her contributions.

Yogmaya was born into a Brahmin family in Majhuwabeshi, Nepaledada VDC at 1860. She was born as the eldest child and the only daughter from her parents, father Shrilal Upadhyaya Neupane and mother Chandrakala Neupane, among three children.

According to the prevalent Brahmin customs of the period, Yogmaya was married off by her parents to a boy named Manorath Koirala, when she was just 7 years old. But, she later became a widow within 3 years of her marriage. As widows were granted immensely low status in the Hindu society during the time, Yogmaya faced several difficulties from her in-laws and the society which ultimately compelled her to return to her maternal home in her teenage years. However, there too, Yogmaya faced discrimination because of her widowed status.

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