Indian Literature 2

THE
INDIAN LITERATURE
THE OLDEST AND RICHEST: INDIAN
LITERATURE
• India is well known for its diversity. From Mountain peaks of North to pilgrimage spots of
South and from the "land of kings" in West to the "seven sister states" of East, India is the home
of a wide variety of art forms. Indian literature was formed during the anti-colonial movement
against British imperialism in India. Indian writers used Western forms of writing such as
essays, drama and fiction to tell their stories and represent the Indian experience. Because of
Industrialization and urbanization it made Indian writers aware of the world around them.
Science and rationality played a key part in modern Indian literature as Indian writers began to
question certain institutions and norms. Rather than attacking the themes of pre-modern Indian
literature (centred around themes of other-worldliness), modern Indian literature created new
gods in their current society, the gods being man and nature.
INDIAN LITERATURE: TIMELINE
• The first ancient Indian literature in the first millennium BCE comprised the Rig
Veda (1500 BCE), the Ramayana (500 BCE) and the Mahabharata (400 BCE), and
was written in the Sanskrit language. Later in the medieval period, the
Kannada and Telugu languages emerged and then, later on, came Bengali,
Urdu and Marathi Indian literature.
• The Vedas were based on Hinduism and included the Rigveda, Yajurveda,
Samveda, and Mahabharata. Ramayana by Valmiki and Mahabharata by
Mehrishi Ved Vyas were Hindu epics and were written in epic Sanskrit.
• Ramayana- The Ramayana is an ancient epic written in the Sanskrit language
telling the story of Rama rescuing his wife Sita, with the help of an army of
monkeys, from Ravana.
• Mahabharata- Another ancient epic also written in Sanskrit, the Mahabharata
tells the story of two sides of a family, the Kauravas and Pandavas, as they
battle for the throne of Hastinapura in the Kurukshetra War.
LITERATURE HAS A GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE CULTURE OF INDIA. MAHABHARATA,
WRITTEN BY VYASA, IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF LITERATURE FROM
ANCIENT TIMES. THIS PIECE IS AL ABOUT THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE BETWEEN
THE TWO GROUPS OF COUSINS, THE KAURAVAS, AND THE PANDAVAS. THIS PIECE IS
MADE UP OF ALMOST 100000 COUPLETS DIVIDED INTO 18 PARVANS. MAHABHARATA
BEING ONE OF THE LONGEST EPIC POEMS EVER WRITTEN IS WHAT MAKES IT A
PHENOMENAL PIECE OF LITERATURE.
ANOTHER LARGEST ANCIENT EPIC, WRITTEN BY MAHARISHI VALMIKI CONSISTING OF

24000 VERSES GLORIFIES INDIAN LITERATURE. THIS GREAT PIECE WAS NAMED
RAMAYANA. THIS EPIC NARRATES THE LIFE OF THE PRINCE AYODHYA, RAMA. HIS 14
YEARS OF EXILE TO THE FOREST, SITA, HIS WIFE, BEING KIDNAPPED BY RAVANA, AND
LATER RAMA RETURNING BACK TO AYODHYA TO BE TITLED AS THE KING, ALL IS
SUMMED UP IN THIS GREAT PIECE. INDIAN LITERATURE HAS AN IMMENSE RANGE OF
SUCH PIECES SHOWCASING RELIGION, LOVE, DEEDS, MORALITY, BRAVERY, AND
OBEDIENCE WRITTEN BY GREAT AUTHORS AND POETS.
INDIAN LITERATURE HAS A GREAT IMPACT ON THE CULTURE OF THE COUNTRY AND IT
HELPS THE NEW GENERATIONS TO CONNECT WITH THE ANCIENT ENRICHED HISTORY.
THIS SIGNIFIES THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIAN LITERATURE AND ITS POWERFUL
INFLUENCE.
INDIAN LITERARY AUTHORS
• Shashi Tharoor
He is India’s answer to a British thesaurus.
Interestingly he has recently published a book
called Tharoorosaurus, a book in which he lists 53
words out of his vocabulary with interesting
anecdotes about the origin of those words.
• Aravind Adiga
Aravind Adiga’s debut novel won a Man Booker

Prize in 2008. With the 2021 film adaptation,
The White Tiger has become one of the most
popular reads of the century.
• Kiran Desai
In 2007, she was the youngest female author to win
the Man Booker Prize. Although the record is no longer
hers, her legacy remains unmatched. Her 2006 novel
The Inheritance of Loss is her most notable work.
• Devdutt Pattanaik
The first name that comes to our minds when we think
about mythology. This doctor turned comparative
mythologist has written a bunch of interesting books about
Indian and European mythology, folklore, and legends. He
has successfully removed the air of mysticism that
surrounds this genre and made it more accessible to the
public.
• Amish Tripathi
This best-selling novelist has redefined the idea of
mythological fiction. It is difficult to ignore his
contribution to the 21st-century Indian literary scene.
He
• Ira Trivedi
She is the one to turn to for young adult novels. But she
doesn’t stop there. She has written books on Yoga, being an
expert in the art. Her most brilliant work is the 2014 book
India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st Century. In
2017 she was listed in BBC’s 100 Most Influential Women in
the World.
• INDRAMPRAMIT DAS
This list had to include a writer of speculative fiction.
Writers like Indrapramit Das and Samit Basu have
kept the genre of science fiction and speculative
fiction alive in India.
THANK YOU!

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THE

ANOTHER LARGEST ANCIENT EPIC, WRITTEN BY MAHARISHI VALMIKI CONSISTING OF

Aravind Adiga’s debut novel won a Man Booker

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