The evolution of Marathi can be traced back to the 3rd century BCE, with the language taking a distinct form around the 7th century CE, making it over 1300 years old. A Marathi inscription dating back to the 8th century CE was found at the foot of the statue of Gomateshwara at Shravanabelagola in Mysore. Marathi is spoken by approximately 83 million speakers worldwide, including around 85-98 million in India.

Bengali, also known as Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language originating in the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal. The formative period of Bengali can be traced to the 8th-12th centuries, as evident from the ‘Carya songs’ composed by the Sahajiya Buddhists. The establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal in the 14th century led to Bengali becoming the official court language, absorbing a large number of Arabic, Persian and Turkish words into its vocabulary. It played a crucial role in the Bengali Language Movement of 1952, which contributed to the independence of Bangladesh. Bengali is now the 7th most spoken language in the world by total number of speakers, with about 267 million speakers globally.

Assamese is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that originated from Old Indo-Aryan dialects. It is generally believed to have evolved from the Kamarupi dialect of Eastern Magadhi Prakrit. It is written in the Assamese script, an abugida system. Assamese has several regional dialects such as Eastern, Central, Kamrupi Dialect and Goalporia Dialects.

The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists out 22 official languages of India. The Government of India has recognised 11 languages as ‘Classical Languages’: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu (2008), Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014), Marathi (2024), Pali (2024), Prakrit (2024), Assamese (2024), and Bengali (2024). The Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC) plays a crucial role in the designation process. It is constituted under the Sahitya Akademi by the Ministry of Culture.

Prakrit and Pali are languages belonging to the Middle Indo-Aryan period (600 BCE to 1000 CE). Prakrit denotes vernacular languages popular in India from the 3rd to the 7th century BCE. The various Prakrit dialects that were in use include ‘Maharastri’, ‘Sauraseni’, ‘Magadhi’ and ‘Paisaci’. Pali and Ardha-Magadhi are also Prakrits, which were used in early Buddhist and Jain literature. Some well-known early works in Pali include ‘Tripitakas’, ‘Petakopadesa’, ‘Visuddhimagga’ and ‘Milindapanha’.

Secular Festivals of India include Baisakhi, Bohag Bihu, Gangaur, Gudi Padwa, Kharchi, Lohri, Teej, Makar Sankranti, Onam, Raksha Bandhan, Pongal, Ugadi and Sair-e-Gulfaroshan orPhool Walon-ki-sair.

The Feast of Passover or Pesach is the most important festival of the Jews. It is also known by various other names such as Hag-ha-matzoth (‘festival of unleavened bread’), Zema Herutemu (‘season of our freedom’) and Hag-ha-aviv (‘festival of spring’). ‘Purim’ or the ‘Festival of Lots’ commemorates the first recorded victory of Jews over anti-Semitism.

Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the Buddha, is celebrated in April/May. Referred as the Saga Dasa in Sikkimese and Vishakha Puja in the Theravada tradition, it is the most important of all the Buddhist festivals. Losar is the New Year Festival of Mahayana Buddhists, generally known as Sonam Losar in Sikkim. Tsechu Festival is held in many monasteries of the Indian subcontinent to commemorate the birth of Padmasambhava.

Muslim Festivals – Eid-ul-Fitr, Id-Ul-Azha or Id-Ul-Zuha, Milad-un-Nabi, Bara Wafat, Muharram, Yaum Al Ashoora, Shab-i-Qadr, Shab-i-Baraat and Shab-i-Miraj.

Followers of all religions in India such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, etc observe a wide variety of festivals. Religious Festivals : Hindu Festivals Muslim Festivals Christian Festivals Sikh Festivals Buddhist...