Marathi writer

Marathi literature is the body of literature of Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra and written in the Devanagari script.

The early Marathi literature written during the Yadava (850-1312 CE) was mostly religious and philosophical in nature. The earliest known Marathi inscription found at the foot of the statue at Shravanabelgola in Karnataka is dated c. 983. However, the Marathi literature started with the religious writings by the saint-poets belonging to Mahanubhava and Warkari sects during the Yadadva reign. The Yadava kings patronized the two religious sects and the Marathi language, which had been adopted by these sects as the medium for preaching their doctrines. During the reign of the last three Yadava kings, a great deal of literature in verse and prose, on astrology, medicine, Puranas, Vedanta, kings and courtiers were created. Nalopakhyan, Rukmini Swayamvar and Shripati's Jyotishratnamala (1039) are a few examples.

Bhaskarbhatta Borikar of the Mahanubhava sect is the first known poet to have composed hymns in Marathi.Mukundraj's Vivek Sindhu, with its 18 chapters and 1671 verses, is considered as the first major book in the Marathi language. He also wrote Param Amrit, which contains 14 chapters and 303 verses. Both the works deal with the Advaita philosophy.

Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296) was the first Marathi literary figure who had wide readership and profound influence. His major works are Amrutanubhav and Bhavarth Deepika (popularly known as Dnyaneshwari). Bhavarth Deepika is a 9000-couplets long commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.

Namdev, the Bhakti saint and contemporary of Dnyaneshwar is the other significant literary figure from this era. Namdev composed religious songs in Marathi as well as Hindi; some of his Hindi compositions are included in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

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