The Nagari Pracharini Sabha (Devanagari: नागरीप्रचारिणी सभा, Society for Promotion of Nagari), also known as Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha, is an organization founded in 1893 at the Queen's College, Varanasi for the promotion of the Devanagari script over the more common Kaithi script used for Hindi languages.
In 1899, it helped Chintamani Ghosh, proprietor of Indian Press, establish Saraswati, first monthly magazine in Modern Standard Hindi, which came out in January 1900.[1] In 1929, Kala Parishad was transferred to Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha and given as new name Bharat Kala Bhavan (Indian Art Museum), which was formally opened on 3 March 1930.[2]
Dictionaries are among the many scholarly publications by the Sabha. The Hiṅdi-śabdasāgara by Śyāmasundara Dāsa was first published 1916–1928, with a new edition published 1965–1975.
In recent times the institute has faced ongoing challenges, including a legal dispute concerning its officials. In January 2020, reports indicated that efforts by both the central and Uttar Pradesh governments aimed to revitalize were underway. The state government announced the establishment of the Bharatendu Academy, while the Ministry of Culture planned to preserve rare manuscripts, enhancing their presentation through a special initiative from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
In June 2021, the District Magistrate mandated the election of a new managing committee. However, this order was temporarily halted in July 2021 by the Allahabad High Court. Voting for the committee occurred on June 9, 2022, but the results were not released until April 6, 2023, when Vyomesh Shukla was elected as its Prime Minister.[3][4]