Every year, the Constituent Assembly of India commemorates Hindi Diwas on 14 September to mark when Hindi became the official Indian language by adopting Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s declaration for Hindi Diwas on this date in 1949.
Hindi is spoken primarily in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand but is widely utilized elsewhere such as Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh. India is home to several official languages, with Hindi written in Devanagari as its national tongue and one of the two official languages used by its government, alongside English.
In 1949, India’s Constituent Assembly officially adopted Hindi as its national language. Hindi is an Indo-Aryan written using the Devanagari script.
History
Hindi Diwas has its origins in India’s independence struggle. In 1918, a group called the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan was formed to promote Hindi as the national language and ultimately help adopt it as India’s official language.
On 14 September 1949, India’s Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as its official language and decided to promote and develop it further to serve as the unifying lingua franca for India’s various linguistic and cultural areas. The inaugural Hindi Diwas took place the following year.
Hindi, one of 22 scheduled languages of India, served as the official language of the Union Government and was established through efforts of Beoharrajendra Simha as well as Hazari Pradosad Dwivedi and Kaka Kalelkar along with Maithili Gupt, Seth Govind Das, and Maithili Sharan Gupt – one being Beoharrajendra Simha’s illustration for India’s original Constitution manuscript!
Significance
In 1949, India’s Constituent Assembly recognized and adopted Hindi, an Indo-Aryan written in Devanagari script, as its official national language.
India Day is an opportunity to commemorate India’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape, with particular attention paid to Hindi. This day recognizes and promotes this ancient language while honoring India’s multilingual nature.
Difference Between World Hindi Day and Hindi Diwas
Hindi Diwas commemorated when Hindi became India’s official language. At the same time, World Hindi Day recognizes the creation of the World Hindi Conference. World Hindi Day commemorates the significance of Hindi as a global language.
Why is Hindi Diwas celebrated?
Hindi Diwas began as an effort to combat the rising trend of English usage within India. Mahatma Gandhi once described Hindi as “the language of people”. On this particular occasion, many literary and cultural events occur all across India, as well as awards for contributing to and promoting Hindi.
Simha, an Indian writer devoted to making Hindi the official language of India, was born today.
Celebrating Festivals of Hindi Diwas in India
India celebrates various festivals through schools, colleges and offices across the country. Students at many schools and colleges participate in literary and cultural competitions and programs, such as literary essay contests. Teachers encourage children in their native language to write essays, poems and letters to celebrate such festivities.
At Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, the President of India will present awards to individuals for their contribution to language. With the pandemic virus spreading around the globe this year, celebrations at this Vigyan Bhawan will make this year’s events genuinely remarkable.
