WORLD

List of Top 10 Famous Poets in India: Indian History on Poet

Top 10 Famous Poets in India

Poetry is a divine art of love and other emotion.

Indian poetry has a rich and long history and has a long list of famous poets in India since ancient times and it has been written in multiple languages including

  • Hindi
  • Sanskrit
  • Urdu
  • Bengali
  • Oriya
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
  • Kannada

as well as in foreign languages like English and Persian due to the diverse characteristics of India.

A poet of the fifth century like Kalidasa was considered as one of the eminent poets of all time and he had a major influence on not only Indian literature but also on the world’s liberal arts. Let’s read about the Top 10 Famous Poets in India.

List of 10 Famous Indian Poets and Writers

Later on, India observed the emergence of some famous religious and spiritual poets which include Rahim, Kabir, and Tulsidas in medieval times.

Explicitly, Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas which had been complimented as “the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry”.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, it had remarkably seen the emergence of many leading notables in Indian literature which consist of :

  • Mirza Ghalib
  • Rabindranath Tagore
  • Sarojini Naidu
  • Surya Kant Tripathi
  • Mahadevi Verma
  • Kamala Das.

At present, Top 10 Famous Poets in India like Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Vikram Seth, Kumar Vishwas is well-known for their writings among a large number of atheists.

These prominent poets of India may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they always share their aesthetic expressions through poems.

Here, I would like to share the list of these notable or famous poets from India, who are born in India and even some immigrated to India.

The following are the Top 10 Famous Poets in India and their best-known contributions in poetry.

1. Mirza Ghalib

His real name was Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan and popularly known as Ghalib.

Mirza Galib

He was an Urdu and Persian poet who remains a leading poet in different countries, particularly India and Pakistan.

He started writing at the age of 11 and spent his all life in the composition of poetry for philanthropists at the court of the Mughal Empire.

Moreover, he was recognized as the legendary poet for composing ghazals.

Ghazals are lyrical poems with a definite number of verses and repeated rhymes typically based on the theme of love and generally set to music.

Perhaps, his poetic compositions are known for the intensity of emotions that it professes its perfect form and for the profound ideas it conveys.

Though Ghalib wrote in many genres, he is the most famous Indian poet for his ghazals all the time and universally known as the greatest and most influential poet of Urdu and Persian ghazals.

2. Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was an incomparable respected personality of world liberal arts and one of the most famous modern Indian poets. Tagore was globally known as “The Bard of Bengal”.

He began to write poetry since he was 8 years old and published his first major poetic collection named as Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali, at the age of 16.

Gitanjali was his majorly acclaimed work in poetry and published in 1910.

Furthermore, he translated his writings in English.

In the next year, for this book, he was awarded by the world-renowned and reputed award, the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This made him the second non-European Nobel Prize winner after Theodore Roosevelt.

Tagore was a prolific writer who not only composed poems, but also wrote drama, short stories, and novels and even translated some of them in English too.

Among the multiple works and writings of Tagore, is the composition of the national anthems for two nations, India as well as Bangladesh, and giving insight to a third nation, that of, Sri Lanka.

The prime and considerable thing in his poetry is the theme, which is the essential integration of all creations on the Earth.

He was deeply concerned with philosophical concepts and ideas of Hinduism.

3. Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu was one of the women, political leaders, during the Indian Freedom Struggle Movement, specifically.

Who played a significant part in the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India movement led by Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

She bagged many achievements in politics apart from poetry.

She was not only the first Woman President of the Indian National Congress but also the First Woman Governor of an Indian state.

Sarojini Naidu was widely known as the ‘Nightingale of India’ and began her writing career at the age of 13.

She wrote many poems for children.

Her composition “The Palanquin Bearers” was widely appreciated.

‘The Golden Threshold’ was her first collection of poetic compositions and published in 1905, widely appreciated by many fellows.

It synthesized traditional poetic forms with a thriving artistic impression of India.

Moreover, Naidu soon became famous because of her commendable use of English metrical forms as well as for the romantic imagery in her poetry.

Apart from this, her mastery of difficult poetic compositions reasoned for her worldwide praise from British writers such as Edmund Gosse and Arthur Symons.

She discovered a wide array of subjects in her poems like love, patriotism, nature, and death.

4. Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’

Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’

Surya Kant Tripathi Nirala has pioneered the Chayavad movement, along with his contemporaries like Pant, Prasad and Mahadevi Verma.

He was born in Midnapur, Bengal and while growing up.

He was majorly inspired by great philosophers such as Ramkrishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekanand and Rabindranath Tagore.

Initially, he was educated in the Bengali medium, and then Nirala migrated to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh where he started writing in Hindi.

Some of his considerable and paramount works include, ‘Saroj Shakti’, ‘Kukurmutta’, ‘Dhawani’, ‘Ram Ki Shakti Puja’, ‘Parimal’ and ‘Anamika’.

5. Mahadevi Verma

Mahadevi Verma

Mahadevi Verma was born in an unprejudiced and libertarian Hindu family and it was her mother who inspired her to write poems at an early age.

She started teaching at rural schools around Allahabad. She was a great educationist as well as a reformer.

Counted in the list of top 10 famous poets in India, Mahadevi was recognizing as one of the four major poets of the “Chhayavaad”, an era of Neo-romanticism in Indian literature, especially in the Hindi language.

She was best known as the “modern Mira” because of her emotional intensity and rich imagery of nature.

She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1988 which was the second-highest civilian award in India.

Henceforth, her poems are generally read in schools as part of the syllabus.

6. Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivansh Rai Bachchan is known for ‘Madhushala’ – a book of verses and sonnets.

He worked diligently in advocating Hindi as the official language of India and counts as a famous poet in India.

In the course of his tour of duty at the External Affairs Ministry, he translated several major works into Hindi, including Othello, Macbeth, Bhagawad Gita and the works of William Butler Yeats.

Apart from his other applauded contributions, the four-volume serial biography,

  • ‘Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon’
  • ‘Need Ka Nirmaan Phir’
  • ‘Basere Se Door’, and the last
  • ‘Dashdwaar Se Sopaan Tak’.

He was widely known for his Hindi motivational poems which require no introduction for great contribution to Indian Literature.

7. Nissim Ezekiel

Nissim Ezekiel

Nissim Ezekiel is one of India’s most prominent English poets.

His poems unite the intricacies and apprehensions of city life and represent common man conditions and associations in its life.

The conflicts in various forms, the role of religion and search for self-identity are his central concerns as a poet.

The famous poem ‘Night of the Scorpion‘ was written by Nissim Ezekiel.

Also, he was awarded by Padam Shri in 1988.

8. Kamala Das

Kamala Das

Kamala Das was one of the towering Indian poets of the 20th century and she is well known as the Mother of Modern Indian English Poetry.

She grew up in a culturally rich family and was married at the age of 15.

Due to the unsatisfactory relationship led to her writing and she was being focused on domestic and sexual suppression of women.

Her liberal and honest assessment of female sexuality made her work both controversial as well as acceptable.

She wrote in English and Malayalam.

However, she converted her religion to Islam in 1999 and known as Kamala Surayya.

9. Gulzar

Gulzar

Gulzar‘s real name is Sampooran Singh Kalra, the most famous living legend Indian poet.

Though he has compiled many poetry collections and directed films and best known as a lyricist who has bestowed exceptionally to the Indian Film Industry

He was born in a Sikh family in British India and moved to Mumbai after Indo-Pak partition.

As a turning point in his life, the Famous Indian film director Bimal Roy motivated him to join films and Gulzar grew reputation and recognition as a lyricist for writing commendable Hindi songs.

He also worked with many greatest Indian music directors composing timeless classics that continue to be popular all over India.

He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014 which is the highest award of the Indian cinema.

In addition to his achievements, he has won an Oscar and a Grammy for writing the song ‘Jai Ho’ for the film Slumdog Millionaire.

10. Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar needs no introduction to Indians as he is well known for his incredible poetic compositions.

He is a proclaimed and established Indian poet, lyricist, and screenwriter in Bollywood.

He has awarded by Padma Shri in 1999, Padma Bhushan in 2007.

He has written lyrics for 100+ Bollywood films and scripts for more than 36 movies.

He has composed several soul-stirring poems and made us fall in love with the beautiful language Urdu through these.

Well, these all Top 10 Famous Poets in India from Mirza Ghalib to Javed Akhtar since ancient time to present world, all are unique in terms of their eclectic collection of poems which manage to touch the souls of people throughout generations.

Russell Wells brings over a decade of diverse content writing experience to the table, having delved into topics ranging from automotive advancements to the intricacies of travel, the nuances of culinary delights, and the complexities of education. With a commitment to continuous improvement, Russell stays at the forefront of his craft, ensuring his skills remain sharp and his content relevant. Through his passion for storytelling and knack for engaging readers, Russell endeavors to create captivating content that not only informs but also leaves a lasting impression.

LEAVE A RESPONSE

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.