The reading list
Every book the picker on the homepage can suggest, in one list. Each entry says when it was written, why people still read it, whether it is likely to be public domain in India, and what kind of place to look for it. We do not host any of these books.
Public domain likely free to read and share in India · Check probably free, verify the copy · In copyright buy or borrow
Hindi 20 books
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Godaan गोदान
Premchand · 1936
Hori, a poor farmer, spends his life trying to own a cow. Premchand's last finished novel and his fullest picture of the village.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936. English translations are later work and usually still in copyright.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans, Print or e-book editions (buy or borrow)
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Nirmala निर्मला
Premchand · 1927
A teenage bride is married to a widower twice her age. A short, painful novel about dowry and suspicion inside one household.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Gaban ग़बन
Premchand · 1931
Ramanath borrows and then embezzles to buy his wife jewelry he cannot afford, and the lie keeps growing.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Idgah ईदगाह
Premchand · 1933
Little Hamid spends his Eid fair money on a pair of iron tongs for his grandmother. Twenty minutes long and impossible to forget.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Kafan कफ़न
Premchand · 1936
A father and son beg money for a shroud and drink it away. Premchand's bleakest story, and one of his best.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Shatranj ke Khiladi शतरंज के खिलाड़ी
Premchand · 1924
Two Lucknow noblemen keep playing chess while the kingdom of Awadh is taken from under them. Satyajit Ray filmed it in 1977.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Do Bailon ki Katha दो बैलों की कथा
Premchand · 1931
Hira and Moti, two bullocks, are sold away and fight their way home. Funny, warm, and quietly about freedom.
Public domain Public domain in India: Premchand died in 1936.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Andher Nagari अंधेर नगरी
Bharatendu Harishchandra · 1881
A one-act farce about a city where everything sells at the same price and justice is handed out at random. Still staged by school drama clubs.
Public domain Public domain in India: Bharatendu Harishchandra died in 1885.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Hindi Samay, Internet Archive scans
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Chandrakanta चंद्रकांता
Devaki Nandan Khatri · 1888
A fantasy romance of enchanted mazes (tilism) and disguised spies. It is often said to have sent readers off to learn Hindi just to finish it.
Public domain Public domain in India: Khatri died in 1913.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Usne Kaha Tha उसने कहा था
Chandradhar Sharma Guleri · 1915
A Sikh soldier in a First World War trench remembers a girl he teased in an Amritsar bazaar as a boy. An early landmark of the Hindi short story.
Public domain Public domain in India: Guleri died in 1922.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Kamayani कामायनी
Jaishankar Prasad · 1936
An epic poem that retells the story of Manu after the flood as a journey through the emotions. The peak of the Chhayavad movement, and slow going for beginners.
Public domain Public domain in India: Prasad died in 1937.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Ramcharitmanas रामचरितमानस
Tulsidas · c. 1574
Tulsidas's Awadhi retelling of the Ramayana, recited in homes and at Ram Lila across North India.
Public domain The poem itself is centuries old and free. Commentaries, modern translations and edited editions can be in copyright.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans, Print or e-book editions (buy or borrow)
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Kabir's dohe कबीर के दोहे
Kabir · 15th century
Sharp two-line verses on God, death and hypocrisy. Read a handful at a time.
Public domain The verses are centuries old and free. A modern selection's notes and translations may not be.
Look in: Hindi Samay, Hindwi and Rekhta (poetry), Hindi Wikisource
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Mirabai's padas मीराबाई के पद
Mirabai · 16th century
Songs of longing for Krishna by the Rajput princess who left the palace for the road. In Rajasthani and Braj, so expect some unfamiliar words.
Public domain The songs are centuries old and free. Modern translations are usually in copyright.
Look in: Hindwi and Rekhta (poetry), Hindi Wikisource
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Bharat-Bharati भारत-भारती
Maithili Sharan Gupt · 1912
A long poem on India's past and its present decline, written in plain Khari Boli. It made Gupt a household name.
Public domain Public domain in India since January 1, 2025: Gupt died in December 1964.
Look in: Hindi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Ram ki Shakti Puja राम की शक्ति-पूजा
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' · 1936
Ram, close to defeat on the eve of battle, turns to the goddess. One long poem, dense and thunderous, best read aloud.
Public domain Public domain in India since January 1, 2022: Nirala died in 1961.
Look in: Hindwi and Rekhta (poetry), Hindi Wikisource
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Smriti ki Rekhayen स्मृति की रेखाएँ
Mahadevi Verma · 1943
Prose sketches of servants, villagers and other people the poet knew, drawn with sympathy and no sentimentality.
In copyright In copyright in India: Mahadevi Verma died in 1987.
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Gunahon ka Devta गुनाहों का देवता
Dharamvir Bharati · 1949
A doomed love story set among students in Allahabad, still passed from hand to hand in hostels.
In copyright In copyright in India: Bharati died in 1997.
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Maila Aanchal मैला आँचल
Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' · 1954
A doctor arrives in a village in Purnea district, Bihar, and the whole village talks. The founding novel of Hindi regional writing.
In copyright In copyright in India: Renu died in 1977.
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Raag Darbari राग दरबारी
Shrilal Shukla · 1968
A merciless comedy about a small town near Lucknow where the college, the cooperative and the panchayat are all rigged.
In copyright In copyright in India: Shrilal Shukla died in 2011.
Marathi 15 books
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Shyamchi Aai श्यामची आई
Sane Guruji · 1935
A son remembers his mother in a Konkan village, one evening at a time. Probably the most loved book in Marathi.
Public domain Public domain in India since January 1, 2011: Sane Guruji died in 1950. English translations are later work.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans, Print or e-book editions (buy or borrow)
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Dnyaneshwari ज्ञानेश्वरी
Sant Dnyaneshwar · 1290
A commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Marathi ovi verse, by tradition composed when its author was sixteen. The foundation of Marathi literature.
Public domain The 13th-century text is free. Modern Marathi renderings and English translations are often in copyright.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans, Print or e-book editions (buy or borrow)
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Haripath हरिपाठ
Sant Dnyaneshwar · 13th century
A short sequence of abhangs on the power of chanting God's name, sung daily in Varkari homes.
Public domain The text is centuries old and free.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Tukaram's abhangs तुकाराम गाथा
Sant Tukaram · 17th century
Songs by the grocer-saint of Dehu: blunt, sometimes funny, and devoted to Vitthal. Dip in anywhere.
Public domain The abhangs are centuries old and free. Modern editions' notes and translations may not be.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Eknath's bharud एकनाथांची भारुडे
Sant Eknath · 16th century
Dramatic folk songs that hide a spiritual lesson inside an everyday character. Made to be performed, with real wit.
Public domain The songs are centuries old and free.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto? पण लक्षात कोण घेतो?
Hari Narayan Apte · 1890
Yamuna, married as a child and widowed young, tells her own story. An early Marathi social novel that still stings.
Public domain Public domain in India: Apte died in 1919.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Gulamgiri गुलामगिरी
Jotirao Phule · 1873
Phule's attack on caste, written as a dialogue and dedicated to the people fighting slavery in America.
Public domain Public domain in India: Phule died in 1890.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Kavya Phule काव्यफुले
Savitribai Phule · 1854
Poems by India's pioneering woman teacher, on nature, learning and the injustice of caste.
Public domain Public domain in India: Savitribai Phule died in 1897.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Smritichitre स्मृतिचित्रे
Lakshmibai Tilak · 1934–1936
A memoir of marriage to a restless poet who converted to Christianity. Frank, tender, and among the funniest books in Marathi.
Public domain Public domain in India: Lakshmibai Tilak died in 1936. English translations are later work.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans, Print or e-book editions (buy or borrow)
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Ekach Pyala एकच प्याला
Ram Ganesh Gadkari · 1919
A tragedy about a lawyer ruined by drink and the wife who stands by him. A landmark of Marathi theater.
Public domain Public domain in India: Gadkari died in 1919.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Keshavsut's poems केशवसुतांच्या कविता
Keshavsut · 1880s–1900s
The poet who broke Marathi verse open, with poems like 'Tutari' calling for a new age.
Public domain Public domain in India: Keshavsut died in 1905.
Look in: Marathi Wikisource, Internet Archive scans
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Bangarwadi बनगरवाडी
Vyankatesh Madgulkar · 1955
A young teacher opens a school in a shepherds' hamlet on the dry Deccan plateau. Short, plain and moving.
In copyright In copyright in India: Madgulkar died in 2001.
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Batatyachi Chaal बटाट्याची चाळ
P. L. Deshpande · 1958
Comic sketches of the tenants of a Mumbai chawl and their committees, feuds and cultural programs.
In copyright In copyright in India: P. L. Deshpande died in 2000.
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Vyakti ani Valli व्यक्ती आणि वल्ली
P. L. Deshpande · 1962
Character sketches of unforgettable oddballs, from a Konkan storyteller to a stubborn neighbor. Best read aloud to family.
In copyright In copyright in India: P. L. Deshpande died in 2000.
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Yayati ययाति
V. S. Khandekar · 1959
The Mahabharata king who borrowed his son's youth, retold as a novel about desire. It brought Marathi its first Jnanpith Award.
In copyright In copyright in India: Khandekar died in 1976.
In English 9 books
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Gitanjali (Song Offerings)
Rabindranath Tagore · 1912
Prose poems translated from Bengali by the poet himself; the book behind his 1913 Nobel Prize.
Public domain Tagore's own English version. Public domain in India (Tagore died in 1941) and in the United States.
Look in: Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive scans
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Songs of Kabir
Kabir, translated by Rabindranath Tagore · 1915
One hundred songs of Kabir in Tagore's English. Loose, lyrical and a gentle first step before the Hindi originals.
Public domain Public domain in India and the United States: the translation is over a century old and its makers died long ago.
Look in: Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive scans
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The Song Celestial (Bhagavad Gita)
Translated by Edwin Arnold · 1885
The Gita in Victorian blank verse. Not literal, but it reads aloud beautifully.
Public domain Public domain: Arnold died in 1904.
Look in: Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive scans
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The Golden Threshold
Sarojini Naidu · 1905
Naidu's first collection: bangle sellers, palanquin bearers and love songs, written with a musical ear.
Public domain Written in English. Public domain in India since January 1, 2010 (Naidu died in 1949) and in the United States.
Look in: Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive scans
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The Home and the World
Rabindranath Tagore · 1916
A wife caught between her gentle husband and a charismatic nationalist. Told in turns by all three.
Public domain The 1919 English translation is public domain in India and the United States.
Look in: Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive scans
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The Ramayana of Tulsi Das
Tulsidas, translated by F. S. Growse · 1870s
A full prose translation of the Ramcharitmanas by a British civil servant in Mathura. Old-fashioned English, complete text.
Public domain Public domain: Growse died in 1893.
Look in: Internet Archive scans
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The Poems of Tukaram
Translated by J. Nelson Fraser and K. B. Marathe · 1909–1915
A three-volume English translation of the abhangs, with the poems numbered for easy browsing.
Check Published over a century ago and widely treated as public domain, but check the scan's own notes before reusing it.
Look in: Internet Archive scans
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The Gift of a Cow (Godaan)
Premchand, translated by Gordon C. Roadarmel · 1968
The classic English version of Godaan, still in print. Good if you want the whole novel without a dictionary.
In copyright The Hindi original is public domain; this translation is in copyright.
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Swami and Friends
R. K. Narayan · 1935
A schoolboy in the invented town of Malgudi gets into trouble with friends, teachers and his father. A gentle comic novel.
In copyright Written in English. In copyright in India: Narayan died in 2001.
We do not host, link to or sell copies of any book on this list, and we have deliberately left out pages for individual copyrighted titles. Public-domain notes follow the life-plus-60-years rule in India's Copyright Act, 1957; they are a careful reading, not legal advice.
Questions readers ask
Why does the list say 'in copyright' for some books?
Because their authors died less than 60 years ago (counted from the start of the following year), so their work is still protected in India. Raag Darbari, Bangarwadi, Yayati and P. L. Deshpande's books are examples. Buy them, borrow them from a library, or look for legal library e-book apps.
If an author is public domain, is every edition free to copy?
No. The original text is free to use, but a modern translation, introduction, notes or edited edition is new work with its own copyright. That is why the list often says the original is free while English translations are not.