Union Cabinet approves classical language status for five Languages

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Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were accorded Classical Language status.

The primary states involved are Maharashtra (Marathi), Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Pali and Prakrit), West Bengal (Bengali), and Assam (Assamese).

About Classical Language

Genesis: Created in 2004
Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC): In 2004, it was constituted by the Ministry of Culture under the Sahitya Akademi.
- Its mandate is to examine the eligibility of the languages proposed to be accorded classical language status.
Criteria for inclusion (instituted in 2004 and revised by LEC in 2024)
- High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500- 2000 years.
- A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a heritage by generations of speakers.
- Knowledge texts, especially prose texts in addition to poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.
- The Classical Languages and literature could be distinct from its current form or could be discontinuous with later forms of its offshoots.
Languages and year of inclusion: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014).

Marathi: Earliest poetry and prose is byJnaneshwar who wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita
Prakrit: It is a colloquial language. Ashoka’s inscriptions have used Prākṛt along with Pali. Gāthā Sattasai is written in prakrit
Pali: Buddhist philosophical works like Dhammapada and stories like Jātaka Tales are in Pali.
Assamese: Shankardev’s Vaishnavite poetries
Bengali: Poet-saints Sri Chaitanyadeva produced literary masterpieces in Bengali, and Rabindranath Tagore’s Geetanjali received Nobel Prize.