An Anthology of Rajasthani Poetry

An Anthology of Rajasthani Poetry : Poets and scholars like Rabindranath Tagore and Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya, to mention just two of them, have praised the literature of the Rajasthani language in glowing terms, and expressed the need of bringing this great literature to light for the benefit not only of the literati but of the general reader as well. Tagore pronounced that Rajasthani poetry could enhance the dignity and splendour of any of the great literatures of the world. Would it were published widely, he is said to have mused and then expressed his resolve to endeavour to do that himself through the Hindi Bhavan of his Shantiniketan. Pt. Malviya thought that its ennobling study should be made compulsory for the youth of India, and he said that he looked forward to the day when a full-fledged department for the study of Rajasthani literature would be installed in the Benares Hindu University which he had founded.

What had impressed them most particularly was the exalted poetry of the heroic sentiment, the Veer poetry anent the glorious deeds of noble warriors, and the lofty emotions that ever filled their hearts, which lies so plentifully strewn in the pages of Dingal literature. But that, however, is just one of its many aspects, albeit perhaps the most prominent. Few only, besides the literarily inclined residents of Rajasthan, whose mother-tongue it happens to be, are even dimly aware of the rich variety of fare that this language has to offer. This is, of course, very much more so in the case of English readers.