National News

Centres of Excellence for Classical Languages

October 5 , 2026 11 hrs 0 min 11 0

The Union Government approved five Centres of Excellence for Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit classical languages.
The centres will support advanced research, preservation, documentation and digitisation of linguistic and literary heritage.
The Centre for Classical Assamese will be at Tezpur University, Assam, Bengali at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, and Marathi at Deccan College, Pune, Maharashtra.
The Centre for Classical Pali will be at Central University of Odisha, while the Prakrit centre will be at Central University of Gujarat.
A total of 11 languages have been granted classical language status in India.
A language is recognised as a Classical Language if it has 1,500–2,000 years of recorded history, a rich body of ancient literature, an original literary tradition, and a classical form distinct from its later or modern forms.