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 and Modi script.
Dnyaneshwar as imagined by the Ravi Varma press
Tukaram
Front page of the book Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak by Jyotiba Phule.
Kesari
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and an additional official language in the state of Goa used to reply provided the request is received in Marathi. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, with 83 million speakers as of 2011. Marathi ranks 13th in the list of languages with most native speakers in the world. Marathi has the third largest number of native speakers in India, after Hindi and Bengali. The language has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indian languages. The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi dialect.
981 A.D. Prakrit inscription at the foot of Bahubali statue at Jain temple in Shravanabelagola It was derived from Prakrit language
Marathi inscription inside Brihadisvara temple complex, Thanjavur
The popular Marathi language newspapers at a newsstand in Mumbai, 2006
Poster showcasing comparison of Marathi language speakers with Germany and Netherlands.