Editing Sacred language (section)

==Hinduism==
[[Hinduism]] is traditionally considered to have [[Sanskrit]] as its primary liturgical language.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Christine Mangala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtLYDwAAQBAJ&dq=sanskrit+hinduism+liturgical&pg=PA317 |title=The Human Icon: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Orthodox Christian Beliefs |date=2017-05-25 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=978-0-227-90612-5 |pages=317 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Sanskrit ===
[[Sanskrit]] is the language of the [[Vedas]], [[Bhagavad Gita]], [[Puranas]] like the [[Bhagavata Purana|Bhagavatam]], the [[Upanishads]], the epics like [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]], and various other liturgical texts such as the [[Sahasranama]], [[Shri Rudram Chamakam|Chamakam]], and [[Rudram]].

Sanskrit is also the tongue of [[Hindu]] rituals. It also has secular [[literature]] along with its religious canon. Most [[Hindu theology|Hindu theologians]] of later centuries continued to prefer to write in Sanskrit even when it was no longer spoken as a day-to-day language. Sanskrit remains as the only liturgical link language which connects the different strains of Hinduism that are present across [[India]]. The ''de facto'' position that Sanskrit enjoyed, as the principal language of Hinduism, enabled its survival not only in India, but also in other areas, where Hinduism thrived like [[Southeast Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n79vEAAAQBAJ&dq=hindu+tamil+literature&pg=PT179 |title=The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Hinduism |date=2022-05-13 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-14488-5 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Old Tamil ===
[[Old Tamil]] is the language of the [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] (Devaram) and [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] ([[Divya Prabhandham]]) scriptures.<ref name="sangam.org">{{Cite web |title=The Tamil Buddhists of the Past and the Future |url=https://sangam.org/2010/12/Tamil_Buddhists.php?uid=4177#:~:text=The%20well%20known%20Tamil%20Buddhist,work%20done%20in%20Tamil%20Nadu. |access-date=2021-07-27 |website=sangam.org}}</ref>

===Early Telugu===
Most of [[Carnatic Music]] is in [[Telugu language|Telugu]].
[[Amaravati Stupa]].<ref name=":14">{{cite journal |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |date=1 January 2010 |title=Harappan Heritage of Andhra: A New Interpretation |url=https://rmrl.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/papers/41.pdf |journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=12 |quote=Nagabu: Personal name on a pillar in the Amaravati Stupa (ca. 2nd cent. BCE.).}}</ref> It is dated to 2nd century BCE and is probably, the name of a stonemason. Its structural and grammatical analysis played a key role in studying [[Indus script]] by [[Iravatham Mahadevan]].<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{cite web |title=The Arrow Sign in the Indus Script 3 |url=https://www.harappa.com/arrow/3.html |website=Harappa.com |quote=Nagabu: Prob. name of a stone mason. On a granite pillar in the Amaravati Stupa. Dated variously between 2nd cent. B.C.E. and 2nd cent. CE}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ప్రాచీనాంధ్రశాసనములు, శ్రీ వేటూరి ప్రభాకర శాస్త్రి, భారతి మాస పత్రిక, జూన్ 1928 |date=June 1928 |url=https://archive.org/details/bharathi19280601/page/n109/mode/2up}}</ref>

Several personal names and place names traceable to Telugu roots are found in various [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]] inscriptions of 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.<ref>{{Cite web |last=p.23, Chapter: III. |title=Historical Grammar of Telugu, K Mahadeva Sastri |date=3 April 1969 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.153565}}</ref>

Many Hindu epics were also composed in Telugu. Some examples are the Amukthamalayada, Basava Purana, Andhra Mahabharatam, and the Ranganatha Ramayanamu.

=== Others ===
Apart from Sanskrit, several Hindu spiritual works were composed in the various regional languages of India such as [[Hindi]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Kannada]], [[Malayalam]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Tulu language|Tulu]], as well as [[Kawi language|Old Javanese]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-dCAAAAcAAJ&q=kawi+language+hindu+literature&pg=PR16|title = The History of Java: In Two Volumes|last1 = Raffles|first1 = Thomas Stamford|year = 1817}}</ref> and [[Balinese language|Balinese]] of [[Southeast Asia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Modern Hindu Intellectuals and Ancient Texts: Reforming Śaiva Yoga in Bali|year=2013|doi=10.1163/22134379-12340023|last1=Acri|first1=Andrea|journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde|volume=169|pages=68–103|s2cid=170982790 |doi-access=free}}</ref>