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| Home > History of Literature > Indian Literary Activities
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| | Indian Literary Activities
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Tamil literature is over 2000 years old and is known for its secular traditions though its authors had strong beliefs. Tolkappiyam is one of the world`s oldest surviving grammar books. Other notable works of this period are Silappalthikaram, Manimekalai and Sivakasinthamani.
Kannada literature is the 3rd oldest in Indian literature and its early literature dates back to 5th century. The first available literature in Kannada is Kavirajamarga written in the 8th century by Amoghvarsha Nrpatunga. Kannada literature can be broadly studied in 3 phases Hale Kannada (Old Kannada), Nadu Kannada (Middle Kannada) and Adhunika Kannada (New Kannada).
Hindi the official language of India started as religious and philosophical poetry in the medieval period in the dialects of Avadh and Brij. Kabir and Tulsidas are luminaries of this age. Chandrakanta by Devakinandan Khatri is considered to be the first work of prose in Hindi. Munshi Premchand is the brightest star in Hindi literary ethos. The chhayavadi poets - Suryakant Tripathi `Nirala`, Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, take Hindi poetry and verse to dizzy heights. Other well known exponents are Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Agyey, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Raghuveer Sahai. Notable younger generation poets are Kumar Vikal, Dinesh Shukla, Mohan Daheria, etc. These poets are more aware globally and it reflects in their works.
Prakrit was also one of the oldest languages of India and its notable language was Pali, which includes Buddhist philosophical works, poetry and some grammatical works. Major works are - Jataka Tales, Dhammapada, Addhakatha and Mahanansha. Many Swetamber Jain works are also written in Prakrit. Many plays like those of Ashvaghosha and Jain works are written Ardha Magdhi Prakrit.
During the early Muslim period Persian became the lingua franca of the sub continent used by most of the educated populace and in the government. Amir Khusro and in the modern time Iqbal are noted poets of this time. Persian was the official language in the Mughal court till Urdu replaced it. Urdu poetry is a fine example of linguistic and cultural synthesis.
Other major Indian language, which has a rich heritage is Telegu and dates back to 7th century. The epic literary tradition started with Nannayya who is acclaimed as Telegu`s `Aadikari` or first poet belongs to 10th century or 11th century. Kalapurnodayam by Pingali Suraina a 16th century poet is the world`s first stream of consolidated literary work a tradition popularized almost 4 centuries later by James Joyce. Gurajada Apparao - father of Telegu modern poetry created a literary marvel with his play Kanyasu- lekam.
Other Indian languages have also enriched the Indian literary ethos namely Gujarati, Marathi, Maithili, Bengali etc.
Bengal`s Rabindranath Tagore was the recipient of Nobel Prize for literature in the year 1931 for Gitanjali. Sarat Chandra, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, took Bengali literature to enviable heights. Marathi poets like Dnyaneshwar Tukaram Ramdeo and Eknath have left their marks on Marathi literature. Gujarati literature is rich in variety of literary styles.
In the last century several Indian writers have distinguished themselves in English prose and poetry. Some of them have won international awards like Booker Prize won by Arundhati Roy for `God of small things`. Major writers are Shashi Tharoor, Amitava Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri, Bharati Mukherjee etc.
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