Languages · Profile
अवधी
Awadhi
The language in which Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas, carried in the folk songs and village life of Madhesh and the western Terai.
864,276
mother tongue speakers in Nepal (2021 census)
2.96%
of Nepal's population
Indo-Aryan
language family
Devanagari
script
In Nepal
Where it is spoken
Language of a great literary heritage
Spoken in Lumbini Province, especially Banke, Bardiya, Kapilvastu and Rupandehi, and in parts of Dang.
Lumbini
Beyond Nepal
Who else speaks it
- India: 3,850,906 speakers returned Awadhi as mother tongue (2011 census), with many more in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh counted under Hindi
- Fiji: Awadhi is a major root of Fiji Hindi
The Dehat
Our work in Awadhi
A content programme for Awadhi-speaking Madhesi communities in Lumbini.
Speak Awadhi, or know someone who does? We want to hear your stories.
ContributeSources: National Population and Housing Census 2021, Nepal (mother tongue); Census of India 2011. Figures for small and endangered languages are estimates.