Indian poetry and Indian literature in general, has a long history dating back to Vedic times. They were written in various Indian languages such as Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit, Ancient Meitei, Modern Meitei, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Maithili, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu among other prominent languages. Poetry in foreign languages such as English also has a strong influence on Indian poetry. The poetry reflects diverse spiritual traditions within India. In particular, many Indian poets have been inspired by mystical experiences. Poetry is the oldest form of literature and has a rich written and oral tradition.
| Length (lines) | Original title(s) | Romanization | Literal meaning(s) | Original language(s) | Place(s) of origin | Author(s) | Genre(s) | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,00,000 couplets (2,00,000 lines) | Sanskrit: {{Script|Deva|महाभारतम् | Mahabharatam | The Great Bharatam | Sanskrit | Indian subcontinent | Vyasa | Sanskrit literature, Hinduism | [1] | |
| 24,000 couplets (48,000 lines) | Sanskrit: {{Script|Deva|रामायणम् | Ramayanam | Rama’s Journey or Rama's progress | Sanskrit | Indian subcontinent | Valmiki | Sanskrit literature, Hinduism | [2] | |
| 39,000 lines | Manipuri: {{Script|Mtei|ꯈꯝꯕ ꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡ | Khamba Thoibi Sheireng | Poem on Khamba and Thoibi | Meitei language (officially called "Manipuri") | Manipur Kingdom | Hijam Anganghal | Epic cycles of incarnations in Moirang, Meitei literature | [3] [4] [5] | |
| 5,730 | Tamil: {{Script|Taml|சிலப்பதிகாரம் | Cilappatikaram | the Tale of an Anklet | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Ilango Adigal | Sangam literature | ||
| 4,861 | Tamil: {{Script|Taml|மணிமேகலை | Manimekalai | jewelled belt, girdle of gems | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Chithalai Chathanar | Sangam literature, Buddhism | ||
| 3,145 | Tamil: {{Script|Taml|சீவக சிந்தாமணி | Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi | Jivaka, the Fabulous Gem | Tamil language | Tamilakam | Tiruttakkatēvar | Sangam literature, Jainism |
There are very few literary awards in India for poetry alone. The prestigious awards like Jnanapeeth, Sahitya Akademi and Kalidas Samman etc. are given away to writers of both prose and poetry. Most of the awards have gone to novelists. Few poets have received these awards.
Some of the poets who have won the Jnanpith award for their poetry include: Viswanatha Satyanarayana for his Sreemadraamaayana Kalpavrukshamu in Telugu (1970), Mahadevi Varma in Hindi for her collection of poems Yama, Firaq Gorakhpuri for his Gul-e-Naghma (1969), Amrita Pritam for her Kagaz te Kanvas (1981), Qurratulain Hyder for her Akhire Sab ke Humsafar, Singireddi Narayana Reddi for his Viswambhara in Telugu (1988), O. N. V. Kurup for his contribution to Malayalam poetry (2007) and Ravuri Bharadhwaja for his novel Paakuduraallu (Telugu) (2012).
Ananda Bazar Patrika have instituted the annual Ananda Puraskar for Bengali literature. There is also Rabindra Puraskar. But these awards have usually gone to novelists. The rare poets to have won these awards include Premendra Mitra for Sagar Theke Phera (1957), Buddhadeb Basu for Swagato Biday (1974), Aruna Mitra for Suddhu Rater Shabda (1979), Joy Goswami for Ghumeichho (1990), Srijato for Uranto Sab Joker (2004) and Pinaki Thakur for Chumbaner Kshato (2012).
Sahitya Akademi gives away annual prizes for both original works of poetry in the recognised Indian languages, as well as outstanding works of translation of Indian poetry. The award winners for English poetry include Jayanta Mahapatra for Relationship (1981), Nissim Ezekiel for Latter-Day Psalms (1983), Keki N. Daruwalla for The Keeper of the Dead (1984), Kamala Das for Collected Poems (1985), Shiv K. Kumar for Trapfalls in the Sky (1987), Dom Moraes for Serendip (1994), A. K. Ramanujan for Collected Poems (1999) and Jeet Thayil for These Errors are Correct (1912).[6] Prominent Akademi awardees for poetry in other Indian languages include H. S. Shivaprakash (Kannada) and K. Satchidanandan (Malayalam).[7] Other eminent Sahitya Akademi award-winning poets include Amrita Pritam (Punjabi) for Sunehe (1956), V. K. Gokak (Kannada) for Divya Prithvi (1960), G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) for Viswadarshanam (1963), Makhanlal Chaturvedi for Him Tarangini in Hindi, Kusumagraj (Marathi) for Natsamrat (1974), Kaifi Azmi (Urdu) for Awara Sajde (1975), Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali) for Sei Somoy (1984), Kanhaiyalal Sethia (Rajasthani) for Lilatamsa (1984), Hiren Bhattacharyya (Assamese) for Saichor Pathar Manuh (1992), Gunturu Seshendra Sarma (Telugu) for Kaala Rekha (1994), Srinivas Rath (Sanskrit) for Tadaiva Gaganam Shaivadhara (1999) and Pratibha Satpathy (Odia) for Tanmaya Dhuli (2001).
Eighteen poets have won Sahitya Akademi Awards in Telugu language.
On the occasion of its Golden Jubilee, Sahitya Akademi awarded the following prizes for outstanding works of poetry in translation from Indian languages.
The Golden Jubilee Prize for Life Time Achievement was won by Namdeo Dhasal, Ranjit Hoskote, Neelakshi Singh, Abdul Rashid and Sithara S.
The Poetry Society (India) gives annual awards solely for poetry. The following poets have won the annual prizes instituted by the Poetry Society (India) in collaboration with British Council and Ministry of Human Resource Development (India):
In the 19th century, American Transcendentalist writers and many German Romantic writers became interested in Indian poetry, literature and thought. In the 20th century, few Western poets became interested in Indian thought and literature, and the interest of many of those was minor: T. S. Eliot studied Sanskrit at Harvard, but later lost interest. Buddhism brought Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder to India, but they became more interested in Tibetan and Japanese forms of the religion. Mexican poet and writer Octavio Paz developed a strong, lasting interest in Indian poetry after living in the country as part of the Mexican diplomatic mission (and as ambassador in the 1960s). Paz married an Indian woman, translated Sanskrit kavyas, and wrote extensively about India.[8]