Mahakavya - Modern mahakavya

Modern mahakavya

See also: Sanskrit literature#Modern Sanskrit literature

In the relatively secluded world of modern Sanskrit literature, mahakavyas continue to be produced. Some of these have been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit. In the introduction to Ṣoḍaśī: An Anthology of Contemporary Sanskrit Poets (1992), Radhavallabh Tripathi writes:

On the other hand, the number of authors who appear to be very enthusiastic about writing in Sanskrit during these days is not negligible. In a thesis dealing with Sanskrit mahākāvyas written in a single decade, 1961–1970, the researcher has noted 52 Sanskrit mahākāvyas (epic poems) produced in that very decade.

Some modern mahākāvyas do not aim to satisfy all the traditional criteria, and take as their subject historical matter (such as Rewa Prasad Dwivedi's Svatantrya Sambhavam on the Indian independence movement, or K.N. Ezhuthachan's Keralodayah on the history of Kerala), or biographies of historical characters (such as S.B. Varnekar's Shrishivarajyodayam on Shivaji, M. S. Aney's Sritilakayasornavah on Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or P. C. Devassia's Kristubhagavatam on Jesus Christ). Some others like the Śrībhārgavarāghaviyam (2002) composed by Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya continue to have the subject of the traditional epics.