Sanskrit Diwas every year is celebrated to commemorate the importance of the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian language.
It is the sacred language of Hindiusm and also the language used for philosophical discourses of Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism as well as Hinduism.
It was the Lingua Franca of India at a point of time. Sanskrit Diwas is observed on the Purnima of the month if Shravan as per the traditional Hindu calendar. In 2019, Sanskrit Diwas is going to be celebrated in the month of August, on the 15th, Thursday.
- Why Sanskrit Divas?
The idea to celebrate Sanskrit Diwas is a unique one, as this language because of its purity and essential difficulty to be spoken as a common language was slowly dying a natural death. Its importance however was phenomenal, as it is the mother of all Indian languages and the very first of the ancient languages whose trait is found in India. The main idea of celebrating the Sanskrit Diwas is to spread general awareness about the importance of Sanskrit amongst common people. To let common people and the younger generation know about the rich cultural heritage and tradition of Sanskrit , the language which can give people a chance to read the original Vedas as well as so many other texts of importance in the original Devnagari or Sanskrit language in which it is written.
Sanskrit is also called Devnagari which literally means the language spoken by the Devas. It is one of the oldest Indo- European languages found and which has a body of work substantiating its importance. The present form in which Sanskrit is found can be traced back to the 2nd millennium BC.
- What is the meaning of the word Sanskrit?
The word sáṃskṛta can be loosely translated as constructed, refined or highly elaborate. From the meaning only it can be gathered that it is a language used by the cultured sophisticated and discerning people. Researchers have classified Sanskrit into two segments – the Vedic Sanskrit and the classical Sanskrit.
- Usage of Sanskrit
As per the census of 2001, 14, 135 people registered Sanskrit as their native language or vernacular. Efforts are being made to increase this number effectively be reaching out to people to explain the richness of this language. Sanskrit in terms of usage in music is mostly used in Hindusthani and Carnatic classical music.
In this context, Sir William Jones, who had translated Abhijnana Shakuntala” ”Ritu Samhara, Gita Gobindam and Manusmriti in English must be mentioned. Max Mueller, the German philosopher translated Hitopodesha in German for his countrymen to read.
- Celebration of Sanskrit Diwas
In the context of the Sanskrit Diwas celebration, camps distributing various booklets containing writing in Sanskrit are set up. Various Television channel programs commissioned in Sanskrit are also telecasted and a time slot for Sanskrit programs are allotted. Public Broadcaster Doordarshan News launched a Facebook and Twitter handle for the auspicious occasion of Sanskrit Diwas. There is a program held in Television on Sanskrit called ‘Vaartavali’ which is telecasted on Saturday s and Sundays. Thus the day which was first observed in 1969, still continues to be celebrated in order to commemorate the richness of this Mother of all Indian languages.