Classical language status to Odia

Odia on Thursday became the sixth language of the country to get "classical language" status after the Union Cabinet conceded a long-pending demand. for putting it in the same league as

Already five languages has Classical Language status, these are : 

• Sanskrit,
• Tamil,
• Telugu,
• Kannada and
• Malayalam.

The criteria for declaring a language as classical mandates high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, a body of ancient literature/texts which  is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers and a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community.