Panel has PROOF to make Marathi classical language

The committee working to prepare a base for the demand of classical status to Marathi language is confident to have achieved the proofs of fulfilling the criteria to obtain the status.

The proofs that have accumulated by the committee run back to as many as 2,219 years ago when the script was written in Brahmi, which is the rootscript of Marathi.

After the decision to demand the classical status for the Marathi language was taken by the state government, a committee of experts was constituted under the chairmanship of writer Ranganath Pathare.

The panel, which has been working on the project, feels that the language fulfils all the four criteria to obtain the status.

Hari Narake, historian and member of the committee, claimed to have accumulated number of proofs proving the language to be more than 2000 years old.
“Shilalekhs written in 207 BC in Brahmi scripts are available. Gatha Saptashati, a book by Hal, Satvahan Nripati, was written in the first century and contains 700 shlokas. The novel is in Prakrit-Maharashtri language,” Narke said.

He added that they have enough literature available in the language to prove the inter- connection of its ancient, mid-age and modern age literature.

He added the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune has more than 80 manuscripts that are more than 1,500 years old.

The criteria to obtain the classical language status include high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over the period of 1,500 to 2,000 years; ancient literature/text as valuable heritage by generations of speakers; literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community and classical language and literature being distinct from modern but should have internal linkage with each other.

An official from Mantralaya said after the state made an appeal to the people for suggestions and to provide the supportive documents, the response was tremendous.

“But the letters we received were more of well wishes and less of providing any documents. The committee had to research on its own,” he said. The officer added that once the report was submitted, the proposal would be sent.

{DNA..30 July2012, ...By ...Surendra Gangan}