NEW DELHI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- India's eminent Hindi language poet Kedarnath Singh has died at the age of 84.

Singh passed away at the country's premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on Monday night after a prolonged illness, doctors said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed sorrow on the demise of Singh, a recipient of the country's prestigious Jnanpith Award.

"Sensibilities of public life found the place in his poems. Singh's poem will always inspire the literary world and people in general," the prime minister said in a message.

Originally from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Singh rose to fame for his modern poems, many of which were translated in foreign languages including Spanish, German and Russian.