Bhopal, Apr 4 (IANS): A village in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad where legendary Hindi writer-cum-journalist and freedom fighter Pandit Makhanlal Chaturvedi was born was named "Makhan Nagar" after him on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Friday.

Chaturvedi was born on April 4, 1889 in Babai village in Hoshangabad.

Notably, Hoshangabad, which is located on southern banks of river Narmada, 70 km from Bhopal, has already been renamed Narmadapuram and Chaturvedi's birth place now will be known as Makhan Nagar. The announcement in this regard was made earlier in February by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after getting approval from the Centre.

Also, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of legendary writer, a 'Gaurav Diwas' programme was held in Makhan Nagar on Monday. The programme is a flagship venture of Chouhan and will be organised in each village, town and district of Madhya Pradesh by end of this year.

Chouhan, who was the chief guest of the programme on Monday, performed bhumi pujan for various development works in the village. On this occasion, the name plates of Makhan Nagar were put up in the city with public cooperation in offices, markets, banks, post offices, police stations and other public places.

Chaturvedi was editor of "Karmaveer" and "Prabha", and his poetry like "Pushp ki Abhilasha", is widely popular.

Chaturvedi, who had repeatedly campaigned against British rule, was the commander of the 'Jhanda Satyagraha', and actively participated in the non-cooperation movement of 1921-22 and was jailed.

Recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award for his poetry collection 'Himtarangini' in 1955 and the Padma Bhushan in 1963, Chaturvedi died on January 30, 1968.

The National University of Journalism and Communication in Bhopal was named after him.