Vikas's Tid Bits

Maithili - the sweet language

My native language is Maithili which is now official Indian language after inclusion in Eight schedule of Indian constituition. Maithili language is mainly spoken in Bihar and Nepal. Maithili has its own script - Mithilakshar (also called as Tirhuta). The script is extremely similar to the Bengali script, as they both evolved simultaneously as regional variants of the Eastern Nagari script. Most speakers in Mithila region use the Devanagari script which is used for Hindi.
The name Maithili comes from Mithila which was an independent state in earlier Indian History. It has a large Maithili-speaking community (4.5 crore people) with a rich literature. Poet Vidyapati is the most famous literary figure in Maithili. He lived during the period of 1350 to 1450. He wrote many poems of bhakti (mainly shiva) and Shringar in Maithili. He is credited for raising the importance of Maithili which was widely spoken by the people, in the official work of the state by influencing the Maharaja of Darbhanga with the quality of his poetry. Prior to this state's official language used to be Sanskrit, which distanced common people from the state and its functions.

posted by Vikas Mishra @ 4:59 pm