Marathi is language spoken in the state of
Maharashtra,
India.
Its script is
Devnagri, the same as
Hindi and
Sanskrit.
It is supposed to be derived from Sanskrit (like many other languages in India). It is spoken by about 80 million people.
A huge volume of litertature was written in Marathi. The oldest known written Marathi is about 1000 years old. Prominent contemporary Marathi authors are P.L. Deshpande, Jaywant Dalawi, and Wyankatesh Madgoolkar.