Classical languages of india: Six Indian languages —Tamil

Six Indian languages —Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia—were earlier accorded the status of classical languages between 2004 to 2024. As of 2024, 11 languages have been recognised as classical languages of India . In the year 2004, the tentative criteria for the age of antiquity of "classical language" was assumed to be at least 1000 years of existence. [2] The Central Government has revised the criteria 3 times. India has recognised six languages as 'Classical Languages' due to their rich literary and historical heritage dating back to ancient times. These languages are Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia . As of 2025, a total of 11 Indian languages hold the status of Classical Language . The Government of India conferred the ‘ Classical Language ’ status to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali languages in 2024.