The Hindi poet known by the pen name 'Nirala' was:

"Nirala" ("unique" or "extraordinary") was the pen name of Suryakant Tripathi (1896-1961), one of the greatest Hindi poets of the 20th century.

About Nirala:

He was born in 1896 in Midnapore (Medinipur), Bengal, where his father, who came from Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, was employed. He grew up speaking Bengali and later taught himself Hindi.

His personal life was full of tragedy. He lost his wife and several family members in the influenza epidemic of 1918, and his daughter Saroj died young.

He was one of the four pillars of the "Chhayavad" movement in Hindi poetry, along with Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant and Mahadevi Verma.

He is regarded as a pioneer of "mukt chhand" (free verse) in Hindi. His early poem "Juhi Ki Kali" was rejected by editors because it did not follow traditional metre.

His poetry moved from romantic and mystical themes to strong social protest, expressing sympathy for the poor and the oppressed.

His famous works include:

• "Saroj Smriti": an elegy for his daughter Saroj, one of the most moving poems in Hindi.
• "Ram Ki Shakti Puja": a long poem on Rama's worship of the goddess Shakti before the battle with Ravana.
• "Vah Todti Patthar" ("She Breaks Stones"): about a poor woman labourer breaking stones on an Allahabad road.
• "Kukurmutta" ("Mushroom"): a satire on the rich.
• "Bhikshuk" ("The Beggar").
• Collections such as "Anamika", "Parimal" and "Geetika".
• He also wrote novels, such as "Apsara" and "Alka", and stories and essays.
• He lived his last years in poverty in Allahabad (Daraganj) and died on 15 October 1961.

Pen names of other Hindi poets:

• Ramdhari Singh: "Dinkar" (national poet; "Rashmirathi", "Urvashi").
• Sumitranandan Pant: his own name; called the "poet of nature".
• Gajanan Madhav: "Muktibodh".
• Sachchidananda Vatsyayan: "Agyeya".
• Vaidyanath Mishra: "Nagarjun".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sumitranandan Pant wrote under his own name.
• ✗Jaishankar Prasad wrote "Kamayani".
• ✗Ramdhari Singh wrote as "Dinkar".