Born in 1947, Jugal Kishor Petshali is acknowledged both as a Kumaoni poet and as an expert in the field of Kumaoni arts, folklore and music. He heads the Uttaranchal Lok Kala Evam Sahitya Sanrakshan Samiti in Chitai, Uttaranchal and is the recipient of several awards such as the Kumaon Gaurav Samman (2005) and the Jaishankar Prasad Puraskar (1993).