Honouring poets like Shakespeare and Keats is fine, but do you know any Indian poet? Chances are that Indians don’t know much about their own poets except perhaps Kabir. 24 February is celebrated as Sant Ravidas Diwas.
Ravidas or Raidas (flourished 15th or 16th century) was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the North Indian Bhakti movement. Venerated as a guru in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, he was a poet, social reformer and spiritual figure.
Ravidas was born in Varanasi as a member of an untouchable leather-working caste, and his poems and songs often revolve around his low social position. While objecting to the notion that caste plays a fundamental role in an individual’s relationship to God, Ravidas contrasted his own lowliness to the exalted place of the divine.
Some 40 of the poems attributed to Ravidas were included in the Adi Granth (“First Volume”), the sacred scripture of Sikhism, and it is generally accepted that Ravidas met Nanak, the first Guru and founder of the Sikh tradition. In the 19th and 20th centuries a new religious movement formed around his figure. A temple was built in his hometown, where he was worshipped; his hymns were recited every morning and night; and his birthday was celebrated as a religious event. His egalitarian teachings made him a figure of veneration and pride among various scheduled classes, or Dalit (as untouchables are now known), social-reform movements of the 20th century.
Some of his poems / dohas –
रैदास प्रेम नहिं छिप सकई, लाख छिपाए कोय।
प्रेम न मुख खोलै कभऊँ, नैन देत हैं रोय॥
भावार्थ:- रैदास कहते हैं कि प्रेम कोशिश करने पर भी छिप नहीं पाता, वह प्रकट हो ही जाता है। प्रेम का बखान वाणी द्वारा नहीं हो सकता। प्रेम को तो आँखों से निकले हुए आँसू ही व्यक्त करते हैं।
जनम जात मत पूछिए, का जात अरू पात।
रैदास पूत सब प्रभु के, कोए नहिं जात कुजात॥
भावार्थ:- रैदास कहते हैं कि किसी की जाति नहीं पूछनी चाहिए क्योंकि संसार में कोई जाति−पाँति नहीं है। सभी मनुष्य एक ही ईश्वर की संतान हैं। यहाँ कोई जाति, बुरी जाति नहीं है।
If You are a mountain
by Ravidas
English version by Nirmal Dass
If You are a mountain,
then I am a peacock.
If You are the moon,
then I am a partridge.
O Madho, if You break from me,
then I shall break with You.
And if I break from You,
to whom shall I then go?
If You are the lamp,
then I am the wick.
If You are the shrine,
then I am the pilgrim.
My love for You
is true and real.
When I fell in love with You,
I gave up my love for others.
Wherever I go,
there I seek to serve You.
No other god
can be a Master like You.
By praising You,
I cut Yama’s noose.
Yearning for love
Ravi Dass loudly sings.
Seeing the beautiful dohas (couplets) and poems by Sant Ravidas don’t you feel that it is so beautiful seeing the words flow with so much love and meaning?
Let’s discover more Indian Poets and learn about them and their important works.
A few of them are being listed here –
- Amulya Barua (1922–1946), first published posthumously in 1964
- Atul Chandra Hazarika (1903–1986), poet, dramatist, children’s story writer and translator
- Parvati Prasad Baruva (1904-1964), lyricist, poet and filmmaker
- Bhabananda Deka (born 1929), writer, poet, critic, columnist, playwright
- Ganesh Gogoi (born 1907–1938)
- Hem Barua (1915–1977), poet and politician
- Lakshminath Bezbarua, a doyen of Assamese literature
- Chandra Kumar Agarwala, Romantic poet
- Hemchandra Goswami, Romantic poet
- Ambikagiri Raichoudhury, Romantic poet
- Abul Bashar (born 1951), poet and writer
- Annadashankar Roy (1905–2002)
- Bharatchandra Ray (1712–1760), Raygunakar, Shakta court poet and song writer in Krishnanagar
- Binoy Majumdar (1934–2006), Indian poet
- Bishnu Dey (1909–1982), poet, prose writer, movie critic
- Buddhadeb Basu (also spelled “Buddhadeva Bose”) (1908–1974), poet, novelist, short-story writer and essayist
- Chandidas (born 1408 CE), refers to (possibly more than one) medieval poet
- Dwijendralal Ray (1863–1913), poet, playwright, and musician, known primarily for patriotic plays and songs, as well as Hindu devotional lyrics
- Girindramohini Dasi (1858–1924), 19th century poet
- A. J. Thomas (born 1952), poet, editor
- A. K. Ramanujan (1929–1993), poet and scholar of Indian literature who wrote in both English and Kannada
- Abhay K (born 1980), poet, diplomat, writer, author and artist
- Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001), Kashmiri-American poet writing in English
- Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962), author and poet writing in English
- Amitabh Mitra poet, artist and emergency medicine physician
- Anuradha Bhattacharyya (born 1975), author and poet writing in English
- Amol Redij (born 1977), English poet and writer
- Akho (1591–1659), poet, Vedantist and radical
- Adil Mansuri (1936–2008), Gujarati poet from Gujarat, India
- Niranjan Bhagat (born 1926), Gujarati poet
- Anil Chavda (born 1985), Gujarati language poet, writer and columnist from Gujarat
- Ashok Chavda (born 1978), Gujarati language poet, writer and critic from Gujarat
- Pir Sadardin, fourteenth-century Ismaili Da’i; regarded as the founder of the Khoja Ismaili sect; also called Satpanth
- Dalpatram (1820–1898), father of Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi
- Dayaram (1777–1853), Gujarati poet of medieval Gujarati literature
- Dileep Jhaveri (born 1943), poet, translator and editor from Mumbai
- Mahadev Desai (1892–1942), writer in English, Gujarati and Bengali
- Suresh Joshi (1921–1986), novelist, short-story writer, critic, poet and writer
- Umashankar Joshi
- Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana (1556–1627), composer, poet, and produced books on astrology
- Amir Khusrow (1253–1325), musician, scholar and poet
- Ashok Chakradhar (1951– ), author and poet
- Banarsidas (1586–1643), poet, businessman
- Bihari (1595–1663), poet, author
- Bhikhari Das (1721–?), poet
- Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850–1885), novelist, poet, playwright
- Bhawani Prasad Mishra (1913–1985), poet and author
- Dharmveer Bharti (1926–1997), poet, author, playwright and social thinker
- Dushyant Kumar (1933–1975)
- Gulzar (1934– ), poet, lyricist, film director
- A. K. Ramanujan (1929–1993), poet and scholar of Indian literature who wrote in Kannada and English
- Kuvempu (1904–1994)
- D. R. Bendre (1896–1981)
- Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918–1992)
- V. K. Gokak (1909–1992)
- K. S. Narasimhaswamy (1915–2003)
- U. R. Ananthamurthy (1932–2014)
- Adikavi Pampa (902–975)
- Ranna (949-?)
- Janna (13th century)
- Harihara
- Allama Muhammad Iqbal
- Abdul Ahad Azad (1903–1948)
- Agha Shahid Ali
- Amin Kamil (1924–2014)
- Arnimal (died 1800)
- Ghulam Ahmad Mahjur (1885–1952)
- Habba Khatun (16th century)
- Lalleshwari, also known as “Lalla” or “Lal Ded”
- Balakrishna Bhagwant Borkar (1910–1984), also known as “Baki-baab”
- R. V. Pandit, vast poetic production in Konkani, and some in Portuguese
- Uday Bhembre
- Ramesh Veluskar, prominent and award-winning Konkani poet
- Vidyapati, also known as Vidyapati Thakur and called Maithil Kavi Kokil “the poet cuckoo of Maithili” (c. 1352 – c. 1448), Maithili poet and Sanskrit writer
- Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, 23 September 1908 – 24 April 1974,poet, essayist, freedom fighter, patriot and academic
- Acharya Ramlochan Saran (1889–1971), littérateur, grammarian, publisher and poet
- Jayamant Mishra (1925–2010), Sanskrit scholar and Maithili poet
- Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, called the “Father of the Malayalam language” (fl. 16th century)
- Johann Ernst Hanxleden, also known as “Arnos Paathiri” (1681–1732), German Jesuit priest
- Poonthanam Namboothiri (fl. 16th century), devotional poet
- Kunchan Nambiar (1705–1770)
- Unnayi Warrier
- Irayimman Thampi (1783–1862), court poet and musician
- Moyinkutty Vaidyar (1857–1891)
- Nongthombam Biren Singh, politician, poet and former journalist
- Ashangbam Minaketan Singh (1906-1995), founder of modern Meitei literature, author of Manipuri epic “Basanta sheireng”, winner of Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi and Soviet Land Nehru Prize
- Robin S Ngangom (born 1959), poet who writes in English and Meiteilon
- Angom Gopi (1710-1780), classical Manipuri poet, translator of Bhagavad Gita and Bible into Meitei language
- Rajkumar Shitaljit Singh (1913-2008), poet, writer and teacher, winner of President’s Medal and Sahitya Ratna award
- Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1927-2000), author of “Tirtha Yatra” and “Manipuri Sheirang”; winner of Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi Award
- Samarth Ramdas, wrote Manache Shlok; known as the Guru of Shivaji Maharaj
- Sant Dnyaneshwar, also known as “Sant Jñāneshwar” and “Jñanadeva” (1275–1296), saint, poet, philosopher and yogi
- Eknath or Eknāth (1533–1599), poet and scholar
- Tukaram (birth-year estimates range from 1577–-1609 – died 1650)
- Keshav Pandit, also known as Keshav Pandit or Keshav Bhat Pandit (died 1690), religious official under Chhatrapati Shivaji, poet and Sanskrit scholar
- Raghunath Pandit
- Suresh Bhat 1932–2003), known as Ghazal Samrat (Emperor of ghazals) for his exposition of that form
- Namdeo Dhasal (born 1949), poet, writer, journalist, editor and Dalit activist
- Manohar Oak (born 1933), poet and novelist
- Agam Singh Giri (1927–1971)
- Hari Bhakta Katuwal (1935-1980)
- Kamala Sankrityayan (1920-2009)
- Parijat (1937–1993)
- Rajendra Bhandari (born 1956)
- Salik Shah (his bilingual poetry collection, “Khas Pidgin,” won Elgin Award nomination from Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association in 2018)[1]
- Tulsiram Sharma ‘Kashyap’ (1939 – 1998)
- Yuyutsu Sharma (born 1960)
- Jayadeva (1170-1245), author of the famous Gita Govinda in Sanskrit and some poems in Odia (12th century)
- Sarala Das (15th century AD), author of the Odia Mahabharata in verse (15th century)
- Jagannatha Dasa, author of the Odia Bhagabata and one of the panchasakha (15th century)
- Achyutananda Dasa, author of Sunya Sanghita and multiple other texts, one of the panchasakha (16th century)
- Salabega (born 1607 or 1608), Muslim author of many bhajans and devotee of Jagannath
- Upendra Bhanja (born from 1670 to 1688), poet and member of the royal family of a princely state
- Abhimanyu Samantasinghara, author of Bigadha Chintamani
- Bhima Bhoi (1850–1895), author of Stuti Chintamani, blind Mahima saint poet of Odisha
- Brajanath Badajena (1729-1799), awarded Kabi Bhushana, author of classics like “Samara Taranga” and “Chatura Binoda”
- Brajanath Ratha (1936-2014), poet, writer, social activist, winner of Tagore Award
- Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918), short-story writer, novelist, poet, writer, government official and social activist
- Gangadhar Meher (1862-1924), known as Svabhava Kavi and Prakriti Kavi (Nature Poet), author of “Tapaswini” epic
- Gopabandhu Das (1877-1928), called Utkala Mani (“Gem of Orissa”), social worker, political activist, writer, novelist and poet
- Jayanta Mahapatra (born 1928), winner of Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi Award
- Bhagat Sadhana (12th century)
- Baba Farid (12th–13th century)
- Bhagat Sain (14th-15th century)
- Guru Nanak (15th-16th century)
- Bhai Mardana (15th-16th century)
- Guru Angad (16th century)
- Shah Hussain (16th century)
- Guru Amar Das (16th century)
- Baba Sunder (16th century)
- Guru Ram Das (16th century)
- Balvand Rai (16th-17th century)
- Satta Doom (16th-17th century)
- Guru Arjun Dev (16th-17th century)
- Dursa Arha (1535 – 1655), ‘First Nationalist Poet Of India’ 16th-century warrior and Rajasthani poet
- Suryamal Misran (1815 – 1868), 19th century Rajkavi (State Poet & Historian) of Bundi State
- Mahatma Isardas (1539 – 1618), Rajasthani saint-poet
- Narharidas Barhath (1648 – 1733), Rajasthani saint-poet
- Brahmanand Swami (1772 – 1832), saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and as one of Swaminarayan‘s Paramahamsa
- Chand Bardai, Court poet of Prithvi Raj Chauhan
- Kaviraj Bankidas Asiya, 18th-century Raj-Kavi (State Poet & Historian) of Jodhpur State
- Kanhaiyalal Sethia (1919 – 2008), Rajasthani and Hindi poet
- Sanwar Daiya
- Sawai Singh Dhamora (1926 – 2017)
- Kriparam Khidiya, author of “Rajiya ra Sortha“
- Fateh Karan Charan, Rajasthani poet & leader of the Bijolia Movement
- Lakshmi Kumari Chundawat (1916 – 2014), Indian author and politician
- Valmiki, author of Ramayana
- Vedavyasa, author of Mahabharata Ashtadasapurana
- Kālidāsa, Classical Sanskrit poet and dramatist writer of Kumara Sambhavam, Meghadootam, abhignana shakuntalam
- Adi Sankara, author of a lot of poems; Bhaja Govindam, Soundarya Lahari, Eulogy on Brahma sutrams, Bhagavathgita Bhashyam and Lalitha Sahasranama
- Bharavi, author of Kiratarjuniya
- Magha
- Bhatti, author of Bhattikāvya, known as Rāvatavadha
- Jayadeva (1200 AD), author of Gita Govinda
- Narayana Panditacharya, author of Sumadhvavijaya, Sangraha Ramayana
- Vedanta Desika (1269–1370), Sri Vaishnava writer, poet, devotee, philosopher and teacher
- Kavikalanidhi Devarshi Shrikrishna Bhatt (1675–1761), court poet of Jai Singh II
- Krishnadevaraya (died 1529), king of the Vijayanagara empire and poet
- Prabodhananda Sarasvati (16th century), Vaishnava bhakti poet-saint
- Vadiraja Tirtha (1480–1600), Dvaita saint, poet, devotee and philosopher
- Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya
- Ram Karan Sharma, of New Delhi
- Srinivas Rath (1943-2014), Sahitya Akademi Award winner and founder of Kalidasa Akademi
- Vanikavi Manomohan Acharya, Cuttack
- Pandhareenathachar Galagali
- Moti Prakash
- Agastya
- Avvaiyar, a poet who lived during the Sangam period (c. 1st and 2nd century CE)
- Kadiyalur Uruttirangannanar
- Kapilar
- Thiruvalluvar ([fl.] c. 2nd – 8th century AD), poet who wrote the Thirukkural, an ethical work
- Ilango Adigal (300 to 700 AD), wrote the epic Cilappathikaaram
- Nakkeerar (fl. c. 9th century)
- Sīthalai Sāttanār
- Tirutakkatevar
- Avvaiyar, an 8th-century Tamil poet
- Nannaya Bhattaraka, also known as the First Poet “Aadi Kavi”, the first poet of the Kavi Trayam, or “Trinity of Poets”, that translated Mahabharatamu into Telugu over the course of a few centuries
- Tikkana also called “Tikkana Somayaji” (1205–1288), poet and member of Kavi Trayam
- Errana also known as “Yellapregada” or “Errapregada” (fl. 14th century).
- Gona Budda Reddy – 13th-century poet
- Annamacharya (1408–1503), mystic saint composer of the 15th century, widely regarded as the Telugu pada kavita pitaamaha (grand old man of simple poetry); husband of Tallapaka Tirumalamma
- Sri Krishnadevaraya, Vijayanagar Emperor, Telugu language patron, Telugu language poet
- Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi (1900-1966), poet, writer, orator and prominent Indian freedom fighter from Muzaffarpur, Bihar
- Javed Akhtar (born 1945) Eminent lyricist and script writer for movies.
- Mir Babar Ali Anis
- Kaifi Azmi
- Bashir Badr (born 1935), eminent Ghazal writer, winner of Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Sahitya Akademi awards
- Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), world famous Ghazal writer from Mughal Era
- Raza Naqvi Wahi, poet from Patna, Bihar
- Shahnaz Fatmi (1949–), poet, writer from Patna, Bihar
- Rafiq Husain
- Rahat Indori (1950-2020), famous Bollywood lyricist
Also read: Mythology: Marriages and Stories
