Indian poetry

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, Hindi, Oriya, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali and Urdu. Poetry in foreign languages such as Persian and 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.

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 outstanding poets have received these prestigious awards.

The following poets have won the prestigious Jnanpith award for their poetry :- Firaq Gorakhpuri for his Gul-e-Naghma (1969), Amrita Pritam for her Kagaz te Kanvas (1981), Qurratulain Hyder for her Akhire Sab ke Humsafar (1989) and O. N. V. Kurup for his contribution to Malayalam poetry (2007).

Ananda Bazar Patrika have instituted the prestigious annual Ananda Puraskar for Bengali literature. There is also prestigious 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).

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