Most of the phosphors are composed of known host material with the incorporation of some percentage of an activator into the matrix. In this work Dy 3+ -activated NaAlSiO 4 phosphors have been synthesized using sol–gel combustion technique. The phase purity, crystallite size and luminescence properties of the prepared phosphors have been investigated systematically by using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. In addition, the effects of annealing temperature and Dy 3+ doping concentration on the photoluminescence intensities are also investigated in detail. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the synthesized NaAlSiO 4 powder can be perfectly indexed to hexagonal crystalline phase with lattice constants of a=9.978Å, b=9.978Å and c=8.330Å. No peaks of any other phases or impurities were observed from the XRD pattern, indicating that NaAlSiO 4 crystalline phase with high purity could be obtained using the present synthesis route. The average crystallite size obtained using Scherer’s equation is around 48nm which was later confirmed by TEM. The phosphor forms the final nepheline single-phase structure at 800°C. Under excitation with ultraviolet light, the NaAlSiO 4 :Dy 3+ phosphor exhibited the characteristic emission of Dy 3+ ( 4 F 9/2 – 6 H 15/2 and 4 F 9/2 – 6 H 13/2 transitions) with efficient blue and intense yellow emission at 485nm and 574nm, respectively. The PL characteristics of prepared phosphor shows the excitation well matched with the solid state lighting excitation sources and emission in the blue as well as yellow region of the spectrum indicating that Dy 3+ activated NaAlSiO 4 nanophosphors may be applicable for solid state lighting with stable physical as well as chemical properties.