Marathi poetry

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Contents 1 Earliest Prominent Marathi Poetry 2 16th, 17th, and 18th Century Poetry 3 19th Century Poetry 4 20th Century Poetry and Latest Poetry

[edit] Earliest Prominent Marathi Poetry

The two poets, Namdev (Devanagari: नामदेव) and Dnyaneshwar (Devanagari: ज्ञानेश्वर), wrote the earliest significant poetry in Marathi. They were respectively born in 1270 and 1275 CE in Maharashtra, India, and both wrote religious poetry. A little over 400 verses in the so-called “abhang” (अभंग) form are authentically attributed to Namdev. Dnyaneshwar composed his poetry in the so-called “owi” (ओवी) form. His compositions Bhavartha Deepika (भावार्थदीपिका), popularly known as Dnyaneshwari (ज्ञानेश्वरी) and Amrutanubhawa (अमृतानुभव) respectively consisted of 9,037 and about 800 “owis” (ओव्या).

[edit] 16th, 17th, and 18th Century Poetry

Eknath (एकनाथ), who lived in the sixteenth century (1533 – 1599) was the next prominent poet in Marathi. The seventeenth century produced first-rate poets Tukaram (तुकाराम) (1598 – 1649), Mukteshwar (मुक्तेश्वर) (1609 - 1660), Ramdas (रामदास) (1608-1681), Vaman Pandit (वामनपंडित) (1608-1695), Raghunath Pandit (रघुनाथपंडित), and Shridhar Pandit (श्रीधरपंडित) (1658 - 1729). Moropant (मोरोपंत) (1729-1794) was the prime poet of the eighteenth century.

All above poets wrote either religious or semireligious compositions. Some details of the works of the poets whose names are highlighted above are available in their Wikipedia articles. (Very briefly, Ramdas wrote Dasabodh (दासबोध); Vaman Pandit wrote Yathartha Dipika (यथार्थदीपिका); Raghunath Pandit wrote Nala Damayanti Swayamvara (नलदमयंती स्वयंवर); and Shridhar Pandit wrote Harivijay (हरिविजय), Ramavijay (रामविजय), Pandavpratap (पांडवप्रताप), and Shivaleelamrut (शिवलीलामृत)).

Moropant's Aryabharata (आर्याभारत) was the first epic in Marathi.

[edit] 19th Century Poetry

The early nineteenth century Marathi poetry consisted of “powada” (पोवाडे: ballads), “phataka” (फटके), and "lawani” ("लावण्या), which were composed by “tantakawi” (तंतकवि) or “shahir” (शाहीर). Prominent among those poets were Parasharam (परशराम), Honaji Bal (होनाजी बाळ), Anantaphandi (अनंतफंदी), Ram Joshi (रामजोशी), and Prabhakar (प्रभाकर).

By the time the second half of the nineteenth century commenced, the rule of British East India Company had been firmly established in India, and the consequent study of English and English literature by the elite of Indian society produced in the mid-nineteenth century Marathi composers like Krushnashastri Chipalunkar (कृष्णशास्त्री चिपळूणकर), Kunte (कुंटे), Lembhe (लेंभे), and Mogare (मोगरे) whose Marathi poetry showed influences of both Sanskrit and English poetry.

In the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century, inspired by the poetry of English poets like Wordsworth and Tennyson, poets Keshavasuta (केशवसुत) (1866-1905) and Rev. Tilak (रेव्हरंड टिळक) (1862 - ?) extended the horizon of Marathi poetry to encompass beauty in nature, love, romance, and mysticism as the subjects of their poetry.

[edit] 20th Century Poetry and Latest Poetry

Prominent poets of the first sixty years of the twentieth century include Gowindagraj (गोविंदाग्रज), Tambe (तांबे), Balakawi (बालकवि), Sawarkar (सावरकर), Kunjawihari (कुंजविहारी), Kawyawihari (काव्यविहारी), Kant (कांत), Kalele (काळेले), Behere (बेहेरे), Rendalkar (रेंदाळकर), Bee (बी), Chandrashekhar (चंद्रशेखर), Vinayak (विनायक), Girish (गिरीश), Madhav (माधव), Madhav Julian (माधव जूलियन), Yashawant (यशवंत), Borkar (बोरकर), Indira Sant (इंदिरा संत), Adnyatawasi (अज्ञातवासी), Anil (अनिल), Kulkarni (कुलकर्णी), Kusumagraj (कुसुमाग्रज), Shanta Shelake (शांता शेळके), Bapat (बापट), Padgaonkar (पाडगांवकर), Mardhekar (मर्ढेकर), Karandikar(करंदीकर), Mahanor (महानोर), and Surve (सुर्वे). Keshavkumar (केशवकुमार) introduced parody in Marathi poetry.

The following list names some of the modern Marathi poets in the English alphabetical order of their last names: Praveen Bandekar, Dilip Chitre, Vasant Abaji Dahake, Keshav Sakharam Deshmukh,Sandeep Deshpande,Sukhdev Dhanake, Namdeo Dhasal, Hemant Divate, Prabha Ganorkar, Vasant Gurjar, Manya Joshi, Mangesh Kale, Ajay Kandar, Sachin Ketkar, Arun Kolatkar, Anjali Kulkarni, Nitin Kulkarni, Neeraja, Bhalchandra Nemade, Rajani Parulekar, Pradnya Pawar, Varjesh Solanki,Salil Wagh, and Kiran Yele.

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