Why this matters now
Modern literature and language diversity are tested for major writers, the literary renaissance and the awards/laureates — overlapping with the freedom struggle and society.
Bhakti and the vernaculars
The Bhakti movement enriched regional languages — Tulsidas (Ramcharitmanas), Surdas, Kabir, Mirabai (Hindi); Jnaneshwar, Tukaram (Marathi); Chaitanya tradition (Bengali); Narsinh Mehta (Gujarati) — making literature accessible to the masses.
The modern renaissance
The 19th–20th centuries saw a literary renaissance: Bankim Chandra (Anandamath, “Vande Mataram”) and Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel 1913, Gitanjali) in Bengali; Bharatendu Harishchandra and Premchand in Hindi; Subramania Bharati in Tamil; and reformers’ writings that fuelled nationalism and social change.
Languages and awards
India’s Constitution recognises 22 scheduled languages (Eighth Schedule). The Jnanpith Award is India’s highest literary honour; the Sahitya Akademi promotes literature in all major languages. India has produced one literature Nobel laureate (Tagore) and a rich body of post-Independence writing in English and regional languages.
UPSC angle
Know Bhakti vernacular poets, the renaissance (Bankim/Tagore-Bengali, Bharatendu/Premchand-Hindi, Bharati-Tamil), the 8th Schedule (22 languages), the Jnanpith Award and Sahitya Akademi.
Frequently asked questions
Who won India’s only Nobel Prize in Literature?
Rabindranath Tagore, in 1913, for Gitanjali.
What is the Jnanpith Award?
India’s highest literary award, given for outstanding contribution to literature in any scheduled language.
How many languages are in the Eighth Schedule?
22 scheduled languages are recognised in the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule.
Who wrote Vande Mataram?
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, in his novel Anandamath.