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Indian poetry andIndian literature in general, has a long history dating back toVedic times. They were written in variousIndian languages such asVedic Sanskrit,Classical Sanskrit,Ancient Meitei,Modern Meitei,Telugu,Tamil,Odia,Maithili,Kannada,Bengali,Assamese,Hindi,Marathi andUrdu among other prominent languages. Poetry in foreign languages such asEnglish also has a strong influence on Indian poetry. The poetry reflects diverse spiritual traditions within India. In particular, many Indian poets have been inspired by mystical experiences. Poetry is the oldest form of literature and has a rich written and oral tradition.
| Length (lines) | Original title(s) | Romanization | Literal meaning(s) | Original language(s) | Place(s) of origin | Author(s) | Genre(s) | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,00,000 couplets (2,00,000 lines) | महाभारतम् | Mahabharatam | The Great Bharatam | Sanskrit | Indian subcontinent | Vyasa | Sanskrit literature,Hinduism | [1] |
| 24,000 couplets (48,000 lines) | रामायणम् | Ramayanam | Rama’s Journey or Rama's progress | Sanskrit | Indian subcontinent | Valmiki | Sanskrit literature,Hinduism | [2] |
| 39,000 lines | ꯈꯝꯕ ꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡ | Khamba Thoibi Sheireng | Poem onKhamba and Thoibi | Meitei language (officially called "Manipuri") | Manipur Kingdom | Hijam Anganghal | Epic cycles of incarnations in Moirang,Meitei literature | [3][4][5] |
| 5,730 | சிலப்பதிகாரம் | Cilappatikaram | the Tale of an Anklet | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Ilango Adigal | Sangam literature | |
| 4,861 | மணிமேகலை | Manimekalai | jewelled belt, girdle of gems | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Chithalai Chathanar | Sangam literature,Buddhism | |
| 3,145 | சீவக சிந்தாமணி | Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi | Jivaka, the Fabulous Gem | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Tiruttakkatēvar | Sangam literature,Jainism |
There are very few literary awards in India for poetry alone. The prestigious awards likeJnanapeeth,Sahitya Akademi andKalidas Samman etc. are given away to writers of both prose and poetry. Most of the awards have gone to novelists. Few poets have received these awards.
Some of the poets who have won theJnanpith award for their poetry include:Viswanatha Satyanarayana for hisSreemadraamaayana Kalpavrukshamu inTelugu (1970),Mahadevi Varma inHindi for her collection of poemsYama,Firaq Gorakhpuri for hisGul-e-Naghma (1969),Amrita Pritam for herKagaz te Kanvas (1981),Qurratulain Hyder for herAkhire Sab ke Humsafar,Singireddi Narayana Reddi for hisViswambhara inTelugu (1988),O. N. V. Kurup for his contribution toMalayalam poetry (2007) andRavuri Bharadhwaja for his novelPaakuduraallu (Telugu) (2012).
Ananda Bazar Patrika have instituted the annualAnanda Puraskar forBengali literature. There is alsoRabindra Puraskar. But these awards have usually gone to novelists. The rare poets to have won these awards includePremendra Mitra forSagar Theke Phera (1957),Buddhadeb Basu forSwagato Biday (1974), Aruna Mitra forSuddhu Rater Shabda (1979),Joy Goswami forGhumeichho (1990),Srijato forUranto Sab Joker (2004) andPinaki Thakur forChumbaner Kshato (2012).
Sahitya Akademi gives away annual prizes for both original works of poetry in the recognised Indian languages, as well as outstanding works of translation of Indian poetry. The award winners for English poetry includeJayanta Mahapatra forRelationship (1981),Nissim Ezekiel forLatter-Day Psalms (1983),Keki N. Daruwalla forThe Keeper of the Dead (1984),Kamala Das forCollected Poems (1985),Shiv K. Kumar forTrapfalls in the Sky (1987),Dom Moraes forSerendip (1994),A. K. Ramanujan forCollected Poems (1999) andJeet Thayil forThese Errors are Correct (1912).[6] Prominent Akademi awardees for poetry in other Indian languages includeH. S. Shivaprakash (Kannada) andK. Satchidanandan (Malayalam).[7] Other eminent Sahitya Akademi award-winning poets includeAmrita Pritam (Punjabi) forSunehe (1956),V. K. Gokak (Kannada) forDivya Prithvi (1960),G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) forViswadarshanam (1963),Makhanlal Chaturvedi forHim Tarangini in Hindi,Kusumagraj (Marathi) forNatsamrat (1974),Kaifi Azmi (Urdu) forAwara Sajde (1975),Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali) forSei Somoy (1984),Kanhaiyalal Sethia (Rajasthani) forLilatamsa (1984),Hiren Bhattacharyya (Assamese) forSaichor Pathar Manuh (1992),Gunturu Seshendra Sarma (Telugu) forKaala Rekha (1994),Srinivas Rath (Sanskrit) forTadaiva Gaganam Shaivadhara (1999) andPratibha Satpathy (Odia) forTanmaya Dhuli (2001).
Eighteen poets have won Sahitya Akademi Awards inTelugu language.
On the occasion of its Golden Jubilee,Sahitya Akademi awarded the following prizes for outstanding works of poetry in translation from Indian languages.
The Golden Jubilee Prize for Life Time Achievement was won byNamdeo Dhasal,Ranjit Hoskote,Neelakshi Singh, Abdul Rashid and Sithara S.
The Poetry Society (India) gives annual awards solely for poetry. The following poets have won the annual prizes instituted by the Poetry Society (India) in collaboration withBritish Council andMinistry of Human Resource Development (India):
In the 19th century, AmericanTranscendentalist writers and many German Romantic writers became interested in Indian poetry, literature and thought. In the 20th century, few Western poets became interested in Indian thought and literature, and the interest of many of those was minor:T. S. Eliot studiedSanskrit at Harvard, but later lost interest.Buddhism broughtAllen Ginsberg andGary Snyder to India, but they became more interested in Tibetan and Japanese forms of the religion. Mexican poet and writerOctavio Paz developed a strong, lasting interest in Indian poetry after living in the country as part of the Mexican diplomatic mission (and as ambassador in the 1960s). Paz married an Indian woman, translated Sanskritkavyas, and wrote extensively about India.[8]
His epic Singel Indu was published in 1938 which was followed by his magnum opus Khamba Thoibi Sheireng (1940), a poem of 39000 lines, considered to be the 'national' epic of the Manipuris, written in the Pena Saisak style of folk ballads.
His best work, Khamba Thoibi sheireng, in 39,000 lines on the story of 'Khamba and Thoibi' was started in 1939 and the composition was completed in 1940.
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