Hindi Diwas: A Recognition Of The Language Spoken By Over 500 Million People Globally| Explainer

As the nation celebrates Hindi Divas today, it becomes important to know the significance of the day, besides knowing the history of the language rampantly spoken in the cow belt of India. The ancestry of the Hindi language dates back to the 10^th century and is found in the Khari Boli dialect, which later formed the basis of the standard Hindi language. Over the years, many epochal changes came in the language which standardised it during the colonial period of India.

Hindi has been recognised as one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also among six languages officially recognised by the United Nations.

Hindi and English are two official languages of the government as well. After ascertaining old transcripts, it was found that Hindi litterateur Beohar Rajendra Simha played an important role in providing official recognition of this language at the administrative level. Owing to his efforts, Hindi was accepted as India’s official language on his 50^th birth anniversary. To commemorate his contribution, Hindi Divas is celebrated on September 14 every year, as Simha was born on the same date in 1900.   

Independence struggle amid Hindi language push

The history of the Hindi language has a lot to do with India’s independent struggle. In 1918, a group of Hindi language virtuosi formed a Hindi literature group. It was aimed at promoting the use of the language. This group played a key role in providing official recognition to Hindi. In a bid to draft the constitution of Independent India, the Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 on the basis of the cabinet mission plan. The big question before the members of the committee was which language should be adopted as the official one. After thorough deliberations, Hindi was unanimously amalgamated with English as the official language (as English was already an official language in the colonial era) in 1949. Following the development, the first Hindi Diwas was celebrated in 1953.

Why is the language important?

With over 500 million speakers, Hindi is the dominant language of the Indian subcontinent, followed by Bengali and Telugu. It is also an official language of India as all documentation and communications are done in this language. Besides, Hindi resembles a bonhomie with Sanskrit, hence India’s ancient religious sculptures are made lucid.  

It is majorly spoken in states like Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Punjab, and also in some countries like Mauritius, Nepal, Fuji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago.  

Why celebrate Hindi Diwas ?

The day is celebrated to commemorate the acceptance of Hindi as the official language of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru officially declared 14 September as the Hindi Diwas. It also has significance as it brings together the linguistic community.