Hindi literature includes literature in the various Hindi languages which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa like Awadhi, and Marwari languages. Hindi literature is composed in three broad styles- गद्य (Gadya-prose), पद्य( Padya- poetry) and चम्प्पू In terms of historical development, it is broadly classified into five prominent forms (genres) based on the date of production. They are:
Mahadevi Verma was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, sketch story writer and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the Chhayawadi era in Hindi literature. She has been also addressed as the Modern Meera. Poet Nirala had once called her "Saraswati in the vast temple of Hindi Literature". Verma had witnessed India both before and after independence. She was one of those poets who worked for the wider society of India. Not only her poetry but also her social upliftment work and welfare development among women were also depicted deeply in her writings. These largely influenced not only the readers but also the critics, especially through her novel Deepshikha.
Suryakant Tripathi was an Indian poet, writer, composer, and sketch artist who wrote in Hindi. He is considered one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavad period in Hindi literature. He is renowned with the epithet Mahāprāṇ and his pen name Nirālā.
Rambola Dubey, known as Tulsidas, was a Vaishnava (Ramanandi) Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit, Awadhi, and Braj Bhasha, but is best known as the author of the Hanuman Chalisa and of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana, based on Rama's life, in the vernacular Awadhi language.
Jaishankar Prasad was a prominent figure in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. Prasad was his pen name. He was also known as Chhayavadi kavi.
Chhayavad refers to the era of Neo-romanticism in Hindi literature, particularly Hindi poetry, 1922–1938, and was marked by an increase of romantic and humanist content. Chhayavad was marked by a renewed sense of the self and personal expression, visible in the writings of the time. It is known for its leaning towards themes of love and nature, as well as an individualistic reappropriation of the Indian tradition in a new form of mysticism, expressed through a subjective voice.
The Hanuman Chalisa is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) in praise of Hanuman, and popularly recited by millions of Hindus everyday. It is an Awadhi language text attributed to Tulsidas, and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas. The word 'chālīsā' is derived from 'chālīs' meaning the number 'forty' in Hindi, denoting the number of verses in the Hanuman Chalisa.
Ram Chandra Shukla, better known as Acharya Shukla, was an Indian historian of Hindi literature. He is regarded as the first codifier of the history of Hindi literature in a scientific system by using wide, empirical research with scant resources. As an author he is best known for Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihaas (1928–29).
Vishnu Kant Shastri was an Indian politician who served as the governor of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. He was also an academician, scholar, poet, philosopher, author, critic, orator, editor and administrator.
Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayists, literary and political critics, and fiction writers of the 20th century.
Ram Vilas Sharma was a progressive literary critic, linguist, poet and thinker. He was born in Unchgaon Sani, Unnao District, Uttar Pradesh. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Sharma authored over 50 books. He was the recipient of many awards including the Sahitya Academy award, Bharat Bharati, Shalaka Samman, Vyas Samman, and the Shatabdi Samman just last week.
Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, educator, Sanskrit scholar, polyglot, poet, author, textual commentator, philosopher, composer, singer, playwright and Katha artist based in Chitrakoot, India. He is one of four incumbent Jagadguru Ramanandacharya, and has held this title since 1988.
Geet Chaturvedi is a Hindi poet, short story author, lyricist, screenwriter and novelist. Often regarded as an avant-garde writer, he was awarded the Bharat Bhushan Agrawal Award for poetry in 2007 and Krishna Pratap Award for Fiction in 2014. He lives in Bhopal, India. He is active both as a fiction writer and critic. In 2011, The Indian Express included him in a list of the 'Ten Best Writers' of India. His poems have been translated into 22 languages worldwide. He translated the work Spanish poet Pablo Neruda] and others into Hindi.
Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya is a Hindu religious leader, Sanskrit scholar and Katha artist based in Chitrakoot, India. Rambhadracharya is a spontaneous poet and writer in Sanskrit, Hindi, Awadhi, Maithili, and several other languages. He has authored more than 100 books and 50 papers, including four epic poems, a Hindi commentary on Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, a Sanskrit commentary in verse on the Ashtadhyayi, and Sanskrit commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi scriptures. He is regarded as one of the greatest authorities on Tulsidas in India, and is the editor of a critical edition of the Ramcharitmanas.
Ramesh Chandra Shah is an Indian poet, novelist, critic and the author of Sahitya Academy Award winning novel, Vinayak. He was honoured by the Government of India in 2004 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Ram Ki Shakti Puja is a poem in Hindi by Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'. It was published in 1937 in the second edition of Nirala's poetry collection Anamika. This long poem consists of 312 lines composed in Nirala's tailored poetic meter, Shakti Puja - a rhyming meter of twenty-four syllables. This poem is regarded as one of the finest works in Nirala's oeuvre. Numerous commentaries, analyses, and explanations attest to its established literary significance.
Saroj Smriti is a long elegiacal poem in Hindi written by Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'. He composed this following the death of his 18-year-old daughter, Saroj, in 1935. Its first publication occurred in the second edition of Anāmikā in 1937. This poem is considered one of the finest elegies in Hindi literature.
