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, Oriya, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali and Urdu. Poetry in foreign languages such as Persian and English also have 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.

Forms of Indian poetry

 * Assamese poetry
 * Bengali poetry
 * Bhojpuri poetry
 * Bishnupriya Manipuri poetry
 * Gujarati poetry
 * Hindi poetry
 * Kannada poetry
 * Kashmiri poetry
 * Konkani poetry
 * Maithili poetry
 * Malayalam poetry
 * Marathi poetry
 * Meitei-lon poetry
 * Nepali poetry
 * Oriya poetry
 * Punjabi poetry
 * Rajasthani poetry
 * Sindhi poetry
 * Tamil poetry
 * Telugu poetry
 * Urdu poetry
 * Indian Poetry in English
 * Ghazal
 * Indian epic poetry
 * Sanskrit poetry
 * Classical Sanskrit poetry
 * Vedic Sanskrit poetry

Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Poetry Awards
On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Indian Literature, the official journal of Sahitya Akademi, the National Academy of Letters in India, the following prizes were given away for outstanding works of poetry in translation from Indian languages.

Rana Nayar won the first prize for his translation of the verses of the Sikh saint Baba Farid from Punjabi.

Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan won the second prize for the English translation of his own Oriya poems "Equation", "Kalahandi" and "The Hour of Coming".

The third Prize was won by Ms Paromita Das for the poems "If Life be Lost" and "Life Awakens" - which were English translations of Parvati Prasad Baruwa's poems in Assamese.

Western thinkers and poets interested in Indian poetry
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.