Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit are accorded the Classical language status by the Government of India

Bengali language

Indo-Aryan language

Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 242 million native speakers and another 43 million as second language…

Assamese language

Indo-Aryan language

Assamese or Asamiya is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a lingua franca in parts of Northeast India. It has over 15 million native speakers and 8.3 million second language…

Marathi language

Indo-Aryan language of India

Marathi is a classical Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Gujarat, Karnataka and the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is the official language of…

Pali

Indo-European language native to the Indian subcontinent

Pāli is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka as well as the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism. Pali was designated as a classical language by the Government…

Prakrit

Group of languages of the 5th century BCE – 12th century CE

Prakrit is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding Pali.

Classical languages of India

The Indian Classical languages, or the Śāstrīya Bhāṣā (Hindi) or the Dhrupadī Bhāṣā or the Abhijāta Bhāṣā (Marathi) or the Cemmoḻi (Tamil), is an umbrella term for the languages of India having high antiquity, and valuable, original and distinct literary heritage. The Government…

October 3

Day of the year

October 3 is the 276th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 89 days remain until the end of the year.