page_title: Arts and entertainment in India
section_title: Literature
hierarchical_section_title: Arts and entertainment in India / Literature
caption_attribution_description: English: Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata (probably taken in 1909, the year he was granted.বাংলা: কলকাতায় রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর (সম্ভবত ১৯০৯ সালে তোলা, যে বছর তিনি মঞ্জুর করেছিলেন)
context_page_description: Arts and entertainment in India have had their course shaped by a synthesis of indigenous and foreign influences that have consequently shaped the course of the arts of the rest of Asia, since ancient times. Arts refer to paintings, architecture, literature, music, dance, languages and cinema. In early India, most of the arts were derived Vedic influences. After the birth of contemporary Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism arts flourished under the patronage of kings and emperors. The coming of Islam spawned a whole new era of Indian architecture and art. Finally the Bish brought their own Gothic and Roman influences and fused it with the Indian style. They have a culture infusion in their art.
context_section_description: Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. India has 22 officially recognized languages, and a huge variety of literature has been produced in these languages over the years. In Indian literature, oral and written forms are both important. Hindu literary traditions dominate a large part of Indian culture. Apart from the Vedas which are a sacred form of knowledge, there are other works such as the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, treatises such as Vaastu Shastra in architecture and town planning, and Arthashastra in political science. Devotional Hindu drama, poetry and songs span the subcontinent. Among the best known are the works of Kalidasa (writer of the famed Sanskrit play Shakuntala) and Tulsidas (who wrote an epic Hindi poem based on the Ramayana, called Raamcharitmaanas).
  Tamil literature has been in existence for more than 2500 years. Tolkaappiyam has been credited as its oldest work, whereas the exact origins of Thirukkural is unknown. The golden age of Tamil literature was during the Sangam period, roughly 1800 years ago. The classic works of this period are Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai, and Sivakasinthamani. Tamil literature is known for its secular traditions, although its authors had strong religious beliefs. Thirukkural is considered to be the greatest of Tamil works. Kannada literature is probably the third oldest in Indian literature next to Sanskrit literature and Tamil literature. The earliest reported work in Kannada literature dates back to the fifth century. The first available literary in Kannada is Kavirajamarga, written in the eighth century by Amoghavarsha Nrpatunga. Hindi literature started as religious and philosophical poetry in medieval periods in dialects like Avadhi and Brij. The most famous figures from this period are Kabir and Tulsidas. In modern times, the Khadi dialect became more prominent and a variety of literature was produced in Sanskrit.
  The most renowned Bengali writer is Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the last century, several Indian writers have distinguished themselves not only in traditional Indian languages but also in English. India's only native-born Nobel laureate in literature was the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore, but VS Naipaul, a diaspora Indian novelist born in Trinidad, also won the Nobel in 2001. Other major writers who are either Indian or of Indian origin and derive much inspiration from Indian themes are R. K. Narayan, Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Raja Rao, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Chandra, Mukul Kesavan, Shashi Tharoor, Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai, Ashok Banker, Shashi Deshpande, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Bharati Mukherjee.
caption: Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel prize for literature. It is the first Nobel prize won by Asia.
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