Page 46 - What Where Why - 8

Unit-VI

Language &
37 Literature
Ancient Literature

Religious and intellectual texts, stories, poetry and plays, royal rulings, and other types of writings
compose of ancient literature. Let us read about some famous Indian ancient literature.
Read the description and write the name of ancient literatures. You may use the Help Box.

1 Vasanta Vilasa is a poem on the celebration of spring. It is one of the
oldest compositions in this language.
2 Aithihyamala is a complication of oral legends and folktales by
Kottarathil Sankunni. It is an eight-volume collection of century-
old legends.

3 Ahom Buranji are historical records and manuscripts related to
the Ahom monarchy which were first written in Ahom language
and later in this language.

4 Heer Ranjha is a love story in verse. Its most popular
version was written by Waris Shah in the eighteenth century.

5 Manimekalai epic narrates the story of the conversion of a
woman from Jainism to Buddhism. It is a sequel to another epic,
Silappadikaram.
6 Bhagavad Gita is the most sacred and popular book of the
Hindus. According to scriptures, the Gita is the supreme book
of all. It contains 700 verses which comes from the Mahabharata.

7 Tripitaka or Three Baskets is a traditional term used for various
Buddhist scriptures. They are Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma
Pitaka.

Help Box
Fact File

Assamese, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Abdulrazak Gurnah was awarded the Nobel
Punjabi, Pali, Tamil Prize for Literature in 2021.

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