A beginner's guide to Marathi literature

Marathi has one of the longest continuous literary traditions in India. Its written record goes back to the 13th century, and in October 2024 the Government of India recognized it as a classical language. For a new reader the good news is that the tradition has two very approachable ends: the devotional songs of the saints, which people still sing, and a 20th-century prose that is warm, funny and close to everyday speech.

This guide walks through the main periods and ends with a first shelf. Older works are public domain in India; for writers who died after 1965 we say so and point you to libraries and bookshops.

The saint poets

Marathi literature starts with religious writing. The Mahanubhav sect produced early prose, including the Leelacharitra, a collection of stories about its founder Chakradhar. The tradition most readers know, though, is that of the Varkaris, the devotees of Vitthal at Pandharpur.

Dnyaneshwar (13th century) wrote the Dnyaneshwari, a long commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Marathi ovi verse, which by tradition he finished in 1290 at the age of sixteen. It is the founding classic of the language. His Haripath, a short sequence of abhangs on the chanting of God's name, is sung daily in many homes.

Namdev, a tailor, and Janabai, a servant in his household, wrote abhangs that are still popular. Eknath (16th century) edited the Dnyaneshwari and wrote bharuds, dramatic songs that use everyday characters to carry a spiritual lesson. Tukaram (17th century), a grocer from Dehu, is the most widely loved of all. His abhangs are short, blunt and often funny, and Varkari pilgrims sing them on the walk to Pandharpur every year.

Samarth Ramdas, Tukaram's contemporary, took a more practical line. His Dasbodh is a manual of conduct, and his Manache Shlok are verses of advice to one's own mind that children once learned by heart.

All of this is centuries old and free to read. Modern editions with notes, prose renderings and translations are new work and usually in copyright.

Ballads and theater songs

The Maratha period produced shahiri poetry: the powada, a heroic ballad, and the lavani, a song form that can be devotional, romantic or bawdy. These were performed more than read, and they shaped Marathi music and later the stage.

The 19th-century reformers

Printing, missionary presses and English education reached Pune and Mumbai in the 19th century, and Marathi prose became a tool for argument. Jotirao Phule's Gulamgiri (1873) attacked caste head-on. Savitribai Phule, the pioneering teacher, published her poems as Kavya Phule in 1854.

Hari Narayan Apte wrote the first major social novels. Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto? (1890) is told by Yamuna, a child bride widowed young, and its picture of a Brahmin household is unsparing. Keshavsut (who died in 1905) broke with traditional verse forms and is usually called the father of modern Marathi poetry.

Theater and the early 20th century

Marathi theater has a strong musical tradition (sangeet natak), and playwrights such as Ram Ganesh Gadkari gave it its classics. His Ekach Pyala (1919) is a tragedy about drink and a marriage. Lakshmibai Tilak's memoir Smritichitre (1934 to 1936), about life with her restless poet husband, is still one of the funniest and most honest books in Marathi.

Sane Guruji (Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, 1899 to 1950) wrote Shyamchi Aai while in prison in the 1930s. A son tells his friends about his mother in a Konkan village, one night at a time. Generations of Marathi readers grew up on it, and in India it is now public domain.

After independence

V. S. Khandekar's Yayati (1959) brought Marathi its first Jnanpith Award. Vyankatesh Madgulkar's Bangarwadi (1955) is a short, plain novel about a teacher in a shepherds' village. Kusumagraj (V. V. Shirwadkar) wrote poetry and the play Natsamrat; his birthday, February 27, is celebrated as Marathi Bhasha Din. P. L. Deshpande, known to everyone as Pu La, wrote the comic sketches of Batatyachi Chaal (1958) and Vyakti ani Valli (1962), which families still read aloud.

From the 1960s, Dalit writers changed the literature again. Namdeo Dhasal's poetry collection Golpitha (1972) and Daya Pawar's autobiography Baluta (1978) are landmarks. Bhalchandra Nemade's Kosala (1963) is a cult novel of student life.

All of these post-independence writers are in copyright in India. Buy them, borrow them from a library, or look for legal e-book editions from their publishers.

The Diwali ank

No guide to Marathi reading is complete without the Diwali ank, the special issue that magazines publish every Diwali. The first is usually dated to 1909, and today hundreds of issues appear each autumn with new stories, poems, reportage and cartoons. Many readers discover new writers this way. Our Diwali reading list has more.

A first shelf

If Devanagari is new to you, read Shyamchi Aai first. The sentences are simple and the emotion carries you through the hard words. For the saints, start with five or six Tukaram abhangs in an edition with a modern Marathi gloss.

For free copies of the public-domain books, Marathi Wikisource and the Internet Archive's scans are the main places to look; our free-reading guide covers both. eSahity Pratishthan also distributes free Marathi e-books by living writers who have chosen to give their work away.