Gourt Home::Gourt :: Indian literature
Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. India has 22 officially recognized languages, and a huge variety of literature has been produced in these languages over the years. In Indian literature, oral and written forms are both important. Hindu literary traditions dominate a large part of Indian culture. Apart from the Vedas which are a sacred form of knowledge, there are other works such as the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, treatises such as Vaastu Shastra in architecture and town planning, and Arthashastra in political science. Islamic culture dominates most of medieval Indian literature, with the spreading influenc of Persian and the rise of famous poets such as Amir Khusro.
Devotional Hindu drama, poetry and songs span the subcontinent. Among the best known are the works of Kalidas (writer of the famed Sanskrit play Shakuntala) and Tulsidas (who wrote an epic Hindi poem based on the Ramayana, called Raamcharitmaanas). Tamil poetry of the Sangam poetry which dates back to 500 BC is well renowned.
Sanskrit literature
- Main article: Sanskrit literature
Tamil literature
- Main article: Tamil literature
Kannada literature
- Main artcle: Kannada literature
Hindi literature
- Main article: Hindi literature
Chandrakanta, written by Devaki Nandan Khatri, is considered to be the first work of prose in Hindi. Munshi Premchand was the most famous Hindi novelist. The chhayavadi poets include Surya kant tripathi "Nirala", Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant,and Mahadevi Varma other renowned poets are Maithili Sharan Gupt,Agyey,Harivansh rai bachan, Dharmveer bharti etc. The progressive poets of Hindi were : Kedarnath Agrawal,Shamsher,Gajanan madhav "Muqtibodh",Ramdhari Singh "Dinkar",Nagarjun,Raghuveer sahai,and Kedar nath singh. The young generation good poets are : Kumar Vikal, Dinesh Shukla, Uday Prakash, Mohan Daheria, Shailendra Chauhan, Vinod Padraj and so on -- This young generation is very much extrovert in expressions and much aware of global changes.
Prakrit Literature
The most notable Prakrit language was Pali. Pali literature includes Buddhist philosophical works, poetry and some grammatical works. Major works in Pali are Jataka tales, Dhammapada, Addhakatha, and Mahavansha. Some of the major Pali grammarians were Kachvaayan, Moggalaan and Varruchi (who wrote Prakrit Prakash). Many of Ashvaghosha's plays were written in Shaurseni Prakrit. Another major work in Shaurseni was Karpoormanjari. Kalidasa, Harsha and Haal used Maharashtrian Prakrit in some of their plays and poetry. Many Shwetambar Jain works are also written in the Maharashtri Prakrit. Many plays (like those of Ashvaghosha) and Jain works were written in the Ardha Magadhi Prakrit.
Indian writing in Persian
Main article: Persian literature During the early Muslim period, Persian became the lingua franca of the subcontinent, used by most of the educated and the government. Although Persian literature from Persia itself was popular, several Indians became major Persian poets, the most notable being Amir Khusro and in more modern times Allama Iqbal. Much of the older Sanskrit literature was also translated into Persian. For a time, it remained the court language of the Mughals, soon to be replaced by Urdu. Persian still held its status, despite the spread of Urdu, well into the early years of the British rule in India. Most British officials had to learn Persian on coming to India and concluded their conversations in Persian. In the early 19th century, however, the British, in an effort to expand their influence, made a government ruling to discontinue the use of Persian and commence the use of English instead. Thus started the decline of Persian as the subcontinent's lingua franca, a position to be taken up by the new language of the British Raj, English. Many modern Indian languages still show signs of heavy Persian influence, most notably Urdu and Hindi.
Urdu literature
- Main article: Urdu literature
Bihari Literature
Bengali literature
- Main article: Bengali literature
Marathi literature
- Main article: Marathi literature
Malayalam literature
- Main article: Malayalam literature
Indian writing in English
- Main article: Indian writing in English
In recent years, English-language writers of Indian origin are being published in the West at an increasing rate. In June 1997, a special fiction issue of The New Yorker magazine devoted much space to essays by Amitav Ghosh and Abraham Verghese, a short story by Vikram Chandra, and poems by Jayanta Mahapatra and A. K. Ramanujan. John Updike profiled R.K. Narayan and Arundhati Roy's "A God of Small Things."
Telugu Literature
Telugu, the second largest language spoken in INDIA, is rich in literary traditions.
THE BEGINNING: The earliest written literature dates back to seventh century AD. The epic literary tradition started with NANNAYYA who is acclaimed as 'AADIKAVI' which means the first poet. He belongs to tenth-eleventh century AD.
THE FORE RUNNER: KALAPURNODAYAM by PINGALI SURANNA a poet of sixteenth century- is the worlds first literary work in STREAM OF CONCIOUSNESS technique. The world had to wait for four centuries to have a major work in this tradition in the form of JAMES JOYCE'S magnum opus.
VEMANA:Vemana who lived in the fourteenth century wrote in the language of thes common man. He wrote poems in simple style. He is the first rebel in literature. He questioned the prevailing psudo values and conventions and religious practices in his poems. His philosophy made him a unique poet of the masses.
THE EMINANCE: The father of Telugu Modern poetry GURAJADA (GURAJADA APPARAO) created a literary marvel with his play KANYASULKAM. KANYASULKAM STANDS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYS THAT HAVE EVER BEEN WRITTEN IN THE WORLD LITERATURE.
ROMANTIC MOMENT:KRISHNA SASTRI, the wizard of Telugu Romantic poetry is said to be another SHELLY.
THE NEW ERA: SRI SRI who is thse only poet deserved the title 'MAHAKAVI' (The greatest of the poets) in the modern era produced MAHAPRASTHANM.MAHAPRASTHANAM DID TO TELUGU PEOPLE, WHAT THE LITERATURE FROM MILTON TO ELIOT/FROST HAD DONE TO THE ENGLISH.
THE NOTABLES: Viswanadha Satyanarayana a doyen of conventional yet creative literater, was the first to receive the highest literary award the 'jnanapitha' followed by c. Narayana Reddy.
LITERY MOVEMENTS: The DIGAMBARA POETS(Nagnamuni, Cherabanda Raju, Jwalamukhi, Nikhileshwr, Bhiravayya, and Mahaswapna) shook the stragnat literary world between 1960 - 1970 and their verses were translated not only in to many other Indian languages but also into many European Laguages. It is Telugu Lierature that led whole Indian literary world in Revolutionary Literary Movement.
THE TRADITION GOES ON: Thus between NANNAYYA and 'NANDANODAYA' of today, there stood literary gaints who enriched world literature.
Awards
- The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary award.
External links
Indian literature | Indian culture
Indische Literatur | Littérature indienne | Индиска литература
"Indian literature"