5 Languages given the status of classical language

The Union Cabinet has approved the grant of “Classical” status to five more languages, thereby expanding the list of culturally significant languages of the country.
Apart from the five languages, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali have also been included in this prestigious category.

In the year 2004, the Government of India started designating languages as “Classical Languages” to acknowledge and preserve their ancient heritage.
The 11 classical languages of India are custodians of the country’s rich cultural history and symbolize important historical and cultural achievements for their communities.

Indian classical languages are languages with rich historical heritage, deep literary traditions and distinct cultural heritage.

These languages have played an important role in the intellectual and cultural development of the region.
His books provide valuable insights into diverse fields such as literature, philosophy and religion.

High degree of antiquity: The antiquity of early texts and historical accounts dates to 1,500 to 2,000 BC.
Ancient literature: A collection of ancient literature / texts that is considered a valuable heritage by generations.
The Book of Knowledge: Presence of an original literary tradition that is not borrowed from any other language community.
Specific developments: Classical language and literature, being distinct from modern language, may also arise from a discrepancy between classical language and its later forms or branches.

Languages designated as’ classical ‘receive various government benefits for the purpose of promoting their study and preservation.
Two international awards are given annually to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to the research, teaching or promotion of classical Indian languages.
These are the President’s Certificate of Honour Award and Maharishi Badrayan Samman Award.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) supports the creation of professional chairs to focus on classical Indian languages in central universities and research institutions.
To preserve and promote these linguistic treasures, the Government established a Centre of Excellence for the Study of Classical Languages at the Central
Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysore.

Eighth Schedule: Progressive use, promotion and propagation of language. It includes 22 languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
Article 344 (1) provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on the expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution.
Article 351 provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language.

Project Asmita aims to publish 22,000 books in Indian languages within five years.

The New Education Policy (NEP) aims to transform Sanskrit universities into multidisciplinary institutions.

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) works to promote four classical languages: Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia.

It grants Central Deemed to be Universities status to three Deemed Sanskrit Universities: These include Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Delhi and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati.

India’s 5 new ‘Classical Languages’