Marathi Language Day is celebrated annually on February 27 to honor the birth anniversary of famous Marathi poet Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, who was popularly known as 'Kusumagraj'.
Vaman Shirwadkar was an eminent Marathi poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, and humanist. He wrote a lot about freedom, justice, and social evils like poverty. He wrote 16 volumes of poems, three novels, eight volumes of short stories, seven volumes of essays, and 18 plays and six one-act plays.
The day is celebrated to recognize and honor the greatness of Marathi literature. Marathi language contains some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 900 AD.
The government started celebrating the 'Marathi Rajbhasha Gaurav Din' after Kusumagraj's demise in 1999. Two special awards for individuals taking initiatives to promote Marathi literature were also started.
Various cultural programmes are held across Maharashtra in schools and other institutions to celebrate Marathi Bhasha Diwas. However, the ongoing pandemic and recent spike in cases have forced the authorities to tone down the celebrations this year.
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