Rekhta
Type of site
Literature
Available inEnglish, Urdu, Hindi
OwnerRekhta Foundation[1]
Founder(s)Sanjiv Saraf
URLrekhta.org
CommercialNo[2]
RegistrationOptional
Launched11 January 2013 (2013-01-11)
Current statusOnline
Content license
Creative Commons license[3]

Rekhta is an Urdu literary web portal started by Rekhta Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Urdu literature.[4] The Rekhta Library Project, its books preservation initiative, has successfully digitized approximately 200,000 books over a span of ten years.[5] These books primarily consist of Urdu, Hindi and Persian literature and encompass a wide range of genres, including biographies of poets, Urdu poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.[6] The collection originates from public and research libraries in the Indian subcontinent. It serves content in multiple scripts such as Devanagari, Roman and, primarily, Nastaliq.[7] It hosts books from centuries earlier and is recognized as the largest website in the world for the preservation of Urdu literature.[8][9]

The site has digitalized more than 200,000 e-books with thirty-two million pages, which are categorically classified into different sections such as diaries, children's literature, poetries, banned books, and translations, involving Urdu poetry.[10] It is also credited for preserving 7000 biographies of poets (worldwide), 70,000 ghazals, 28,000 couplets, 12,000 nazms, 6,836 literary videos, 2,127 audio files, 140,000 e-books[11] manuscripts and pop magazines.

History

Rekhta was launched on 11 January 2013 in New Delhi, India.[12] The portal came into existence after the idea of "Urdu virtual library" was introduced by Sanjiv Saraf to professors of Urdu from across leading universities. The literary works, including Urdu poetry were collected from the different private and public libraries across the major cities of India such as Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Aligarh, including India's capital Delhi.[13]

Literature promotion

Rekhta Live

Following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, it launched an "online mehfil" (live seasons) of literature, music and poetry across its social channels via third-party software component. It was attended by the people across the five continents, leading the website to receive over two million views.[14][15]

Festivals

The Foundation celebrates various literary festivals, including Jashn-e-Rekhta, in which people from different walks are invited to participate in literary works such as Urdu poetry, music, short stories. It also engage the literary figures in direct conversations to promote Hindustani language along with the Urdu literature.[16][17][18] The two day event is organized every year at Delhi.[19]

Shaam-e-Sher

The Foundation has also begun organising mushairas, a literary event called Shaam-e-Sher (evening of poetry). It is generally attended by the young adult poets aged between eighteen and thirty. It was primarily adopted to promote Urdu literature where ghazals and nazms are recited by the event attendees.[20]

Aamozish

Launched by the Foundation in 2017, Aamozish is an e-learning initiative that seeks to promote the Urdu script.[21]

Sufinama

Sufinama[22] is a Rekhta Foundation initiative that preserves and propagates 400 years of Sufi writing and philosophy. It also provides the largest online collection of Hazrat Amir Khusrau's work and the translations of his Persian ghazals.[23]

Hindwi

The Foundation also launched Hindwi, a website dedicated to Hindi literature, in July 2020.[24][25]

RekhtaLabs

RekhtaLabs[26] is the research wing of Rekhta, aimed at advancing NLP research for Urdu, by collaborating with universities and independent researchers working at the intersection of Computer Programming and Urdu.

Controversies

The organization made changes in the Jashn-e-Rekhta event by replacing Urdu with the Hindustani language, although the organization was established for the promotion of Urdu literature through its portal. On 13 December 2019, it made official announcement during its sixth edition of the mehfil held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The posters, which were received by the event speakers mentioned "Jashn-e-Rekhta: The Biggest Celebration of Hindustani Language and Culture" (not mentioning "Urdu" word). Later, the Urdu speakers criticised the changes citing "It seems Jashn-e-Rekhta has surrendered to the powers that be". An Indian writer and journalist Ziya Us Salam called the changes unfavorable and linked it to the Delhi High Court's decision after it ordered the police "to cut down on “difficult” words in Urdu". An Indian poet Gauhar Raza subsequently called the changes "unfortunate" and "problematic".[27]

References

  1. ↑ Desk, Sentinel Digital (5 December 2019). "A virtual Urdu library for free- Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com.
  2. ↑ "Urdu binds people of Subcontinent: Rekhta founder Sanjiv Saraf". 27 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Disclaimer". Rekhta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "About Rekhta".
  5. ↑ "10 Years of Rekhta". Tribune India.
  6. ↑ "Rekhta e-Books". Rekhta.org.
  7. ↑ "About Site". Rekhta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Mahmudabad, Ali Khan (13 February 2020). "How did the Indian Muslim identity express itself through poetry before Independence?". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Book tickets to Shaam-E-Rekhta - World Poetry Day - Bangalore". insider.in. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Leg up for Urdu literature, 90,000 titles digitised in six years". The New Indian Express.
  11. ↑ Mohammad Waqas (20 December 2019). "Body of language". India Today.
  12. ↑ "Rekhta Launch Video".
  13. ↑ "Urdu Mahabharata e-book in Rekhta's virtual library".
  14. ↑ "Beat lockdown blues: Set 8 pm reminder for RekhtaLive music and poetry". Moneycontrol.
  15. ↑ "Music and poetry in the times of social distancing". www.outlookindia.com.
  16. ↑ Kumar, Anuj (14 December 2018). "Sanjiv Saraf: Celebrating the vibrant shades of Urdu". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  17. ↑ "Celebrating the Language of Poetry: Third edition of Jashn-e-Rekhta has artists, poets, writers, musicians coming together". 17 February 2017.
  18. ↑ "Urdu put on a fast track by Rekhta in three-day festival". Pakistan Today. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Desk, Entertainment (14 March 2015). "Jashn-e-Rekhta begins celebration of Urdu in India today". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  20. ↑ IANS (18 June 2016). "Shaam-e-Sher: Reinvigorating Urdu among youth (Societal Feature)". Business Standard India. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  21. ↑ Murthy, Neeraja (26 November 2020). "E-platform 'Aamozish' helps to learn Urdu in seven days". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  22. ↑ "Online collection of Sufi Poetry & Sufi Shayari by famous Poets". Sufinama. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  23. ↑ Desk, NH Web (10 June 2020). "Rekhta's Sufinama to hold virtual Urs to commemorate 716th death anniversary of Sufi Saint Amir Khusrau". National Herald. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  24. ↑ "Saving India's Urdu heritage, one book at a time - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  25. ↑ "Rekhta: From Amir Khusrau to Mirza Ghalib, Sanjiv Saraf's initiative is saving India's Urdu heritage, one book at a time". Hindustan Times. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  26. ↑ "Research and development for Indic Languages". RekhtaLabs. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  27. ↑ Anjum, Nawaid (3 December 2019). "After Rekhta skips 'Urdu' on posters of its annual festival, lovers of the language fret, organisers bring it back". The Indian Express. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
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