Hindi Diwas 2023: Date, History, Meaning and Celebration

The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of the national language, but although it is not the national language of India, Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the central government of India and also of the Union according to Article 343. of the Constitution of India. This Indo-Aryan language is also the most spoken language globally after English and Mandarin Chinese and is spoken by 600 million people worldwide.

Date:

India celebrates Hindi Diwas, also known as Hindi Day, on September 14 every year to commemorate the adoption of Hindi in the Devanagari script as one of the nation's official languages.

History:

The Constituent Assembly of India accepted Hindi, written in Devanagari script, as the official language of India on September 14, 1949. Officially, the first Hindi Day was celebrated on September 14, 1953. The reason behind the adoption of Hindi as one of the official languages was to simplify administration in a multilingual nation. Several writers, poets and activists strove to adopt Hindi as an official language.

Meaning:

One of the reasons behind celebrating this day is to avoid the growing trend of the English language in the nation and the abandonment of Hindi. Mahatma Gandhi called Hindi the language of the masses.

Celebration:

Many literary and cultural events are organised nationwide on this day, where people celebrate great works of Hindi literature. Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar and Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar awards are also given to ministries, departments, public sector units (PSUs), nationalised banks and citizens on Hindi Diwas for their contribution and promotion of Hindi.

Many schools and universities organise various literary and cultural programs and competitions to show the day's importance and raise awareness about the language. The President of India honours people for their contributions to the language at a function held that day at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan.