INDIAN POETRY

Petra Hadžidaova
Aug 10
3 min read

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INTRODUCTION

India - the land of Buddhism, Hinduism, ancient temples, spices, and exquisite cuisine. It is a land rich in culture and history. It has seen great and not-so-great times. India also has a rich culture in literature and poetry. Today we will take a quick look into indian poetry.

HISTORY OF INDIAN POETRY

Indian poetry has a long history dating back to Vedic times. It is written in various Indian languages such as Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit, Ancient Meitei, Modern Meitei, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Maithili, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu among other prominent languages (2). It went through three major periods:

ancient and classical
medieval and devotional periods
modern and regional period.

ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL PERIOD

It all began with the Vedic Seers who wrote some of the first recorded poetry in the world: the Vedic hymns. The prayers and praises were written in Vedic Sanskrit. The most well-known is the Rig Veda text. (3)

Later on, epics began to emerge, shaped by classical works and spiritual verses. They were written in Classical Sanskrit. (3)

For a very long time, Indian poets were known as the Indian version of the troubadours. They are still very fond of impromptu performances even nowadays. The poetry itself was more folky. But as we will see, it eventually became more structured as outsiders began to influence Indian literature. (4)

MEDIEVAL DEVOTIONAL TIMES

In medieval times, a countercultural religious reformation that began in southern India took place. It is called the Bhakti movement. It offered the individual seeker, regardless of their caste or gender, a path towards yoga or moksha (spiritual liberation), which was independent from priestly authority. They were written in vernacular languages, rather than Sanskrit. These devotions were directed either at personal Gods, or the One God, the Supreme being above all. Most known poets are Lall Ded and Mirabai. (4)

MODERN AND REGIONAL PERIOD

The modern period began about one hundred years ago. It witnessed one phase of extreme Westernization, then one of slow recovery from it. With the arrival of missionaries came English. By 1850, most Indian poets began to write in English; others who wrote in their own languages were imitating English subjects and forms. The poetry was not considered of high quality. By 1890, the majority returned to writing in their mother languages. (4)

After World War I, a new influence came from the French symbolists. Indian poets applied to their own languages the devices of association, symbol, and irregular meter. This time around, they did not abandon their own language. (4)

CONCLUSION

India is rich with culture and history. They are home to some of the most breathtaking temples and exquisite cuisine. Their poetry dates back to the Vedic times, with their Vedic hymns written in Vedic Sanskrit and other texts like epics written in Classical Sanskrit. In medieval times, the bhakti movement offered the individual seeker a path towards yoga or moksha. Poets shifted from Sanskrit to vernacular languages. Around 100 years ago, the modern period began with a great phase of extreme Westernization, then followed by one of slow recovery from it. Indian poets began writing in English and adopting more structured and sophisticated forms, then slowly returned to their own languages but kept the Western forms and styles.