Indian literature

From ArticleWorld


India is a huge country with many regions, each having its own literature styles and landmarks. It comprises of epics, sagas, and many philosophical and spiritual classics along with love stories, ways of living and narratives in the form of song-dance-drama. Basically, Indian literature is broadly classified into the following main forms-

  • Dravidian literature – mainly found to coexist with many variants in the southern part of India. It is generally believed that Panini- the grammarian was from south India. And grammar found in almost all Indian languages follow the rules of Panini. South Indian literature is mostly classical and the spiritual and mythological overtones are predominant.
  • Aryan literature – mainly found in the north India, mainly the Gangetic plain, is mostly similar as the influence of most invaders and their culture is reflected in almost the entire scope of work created here. The most important mention is generally made of Kalidas, Tulsidas etc.
  • Rabindra Sangeet- this literature by Rabindranath Tagore finds special mention in Indian literary works and its impact is most visible in the eastern parts of India.
  • Urdu has influenced native Indian literature owing to the fact that the Mughals, who had used this language as the court language had sought to replace Sanskrit by Urdu. Urdu brought variety of characters and amalgamated well with the culture and hence literature of India.
  • The 150 years of British rule and the imposition of English on the Indian mass has thrown up, though reluctantly, some very fine collection of English literature. Vikram Seth, Shobha De, etc are some widely accepted contemporary English authors.


In ancient times, most of the literary work was transmitted orally from generation to generation. Hence, there has always been scope for interpolation and add-ons to the original work. However, the basic themes of the literature have had only additions of character without changing the basic flow and content of ancient Indian literature.

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