Nepali language litterateur Indra Bahadur Rai passed away after a prolonged illness in Darjeeling district of West Bengal state, Indian on Tuesday. He was 93. He had fallen ill since the demise of his wife Maya Devi on August 27, 2017.

Rai was born on the bank of Balasan River in Darjeeling on February 3, 1927. His first literary work ‘Bipana Katipaya’ was published in 1961. Though he finished his first novel ‘Aaja Ramita Chha’ in 1958, it was published only in 1964.  Aaja Ramita Chha was recently translated into English by writer Manjushree Thapa. The English translation of the book titled ‘There’s a Carnival Today’ was released in October last year.  His last literary work was ‘Sampurak.’

Rai, who was honoured with doctorate degree last year by Tribhuvan University, had taken the command of third-dimension and Lelalekhan in Nepali literature. His body will be laid to rest on Thursday according to Rai tradition, family sources said.