It is undeniable that Hindi is the most spoken language when it comes to Indian population. Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is considered the official language of the Government of India. After Madarin language, Spanish, and English, Hindi is also the fourth language that is spoken the most worldwide. At present, there are roughly 53 crore individuals, or 43.6% of its population declearing it as their mother tongue.

Hindi is a descendant of the Sanskrit language and is strongly influenced by Dravidian, Arabic, Portuguese, English, Persian, and Turkey languages. It became popular in almost India due to Bollywood pictures, movies, songs, and dialogues. When these kind of entertainment forms spread widely on the television serials and other programs, Hindi started expanding its coverage to non-Hindi areas. The prove is some states such as Assam West Bengal Orissa and Sikkim people, who actually had no knowledge about Hindi at all, but recently speaking Hindi up to 90% of its population.

Besides, Hindi is also being used as the alternative in recruitment examinations of diverse different important offices, institutions, and banks of the central government. Therefore, the overwhelming widespread of Hindi across India is understandable.

Number of Hindi speakers in India (2023 census): 52.8 crore individuals

English has been considered one of the official languages of India's federal government besides Hindi. It is used in university education, and within several other pivotal fields like politics, administration, judiciary, etc since the times of 1850s. Moreover, from 1858 to 1947, more and more Indians were hired to work with the British in civil services, furthering the learning of English. In this way, the instruction of this language become popular since the early days.

Today, its widespread developed than ever before. It is very common to see young people code-mixing and code-switching between English and Indian languages. Many jobs and occupations require English as a necessary requirement for working as well. These reasons fosters its popularity even further. English has been embedded in India's heart and soul, and that's made India become the second largest English-speaking country, just after United States.

Numbers of English speakers in India (2023 census): 26.5 crore individuals

Standing in third place in the list of the most spoken languages in India is no further than Bengali. Also known as Bangala, this language is the official one of Bangladesh and is considered the favorite communication medium of lots of Indian states such as West Bengal, Tripura, and the Barak Valley of Assam. It is not only the second most-spoken language in India that accounts for 8% of Indian citizens, but it also holds the title of the seventh most-spoken language all over the world.

Like Hindi, it evolved from Sanskrit - the ancient Indian language that has the oldest longevity, as well as Pali and Prakrit with various influences from Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English as well. Besides, Bengali also originated from the Indo-Aryan Central languages and is spoken in not only India but also many other parts of South Asia.

The reason why Bengali gains Indian popularity is its appearance in lots of Hindi songs. There are many Bengali music composers and lyricists such as Pritam Chakraborty, Anupam Roy, and Amitabh Bhattacharya, who used a combination between Bengali lines and Hindo melodies in lots of folk songs. That incorporation fosters the specialty of the Bengali language, as well as spreads its coverage to the whole of India.

Moreover, the Bangalis are viewed as love-traveling people that are into going somewhere new. This not only pushes the development of tourism but also expands its popularity because hotel receptionists as well as sellers need to learn Bangalis to accommodate that need.

Number of Bengali speakers in India (2023 census): 9.72 crore individuals

As another best-spoken language in India, Telugu is one of the languages in the Dravidian family and is widely spoken in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Telugu had its earliest-known inscriptions appear on coins from 400 BCE, which contain some Telugu words, and the first inscription written entirely in the language was created in 575 AD. At present, there are 9.6 crore people in India who speak Telugu.

Due to the large number of Telugu-speaking people who have moved to the US, this language is said to be the fastest-growing language and become one of the most popular languages available in the United States. Telugu is also considered an easy language to learn, because of its phonetic feature. Its writing corresponds to the pronounced sounds, thus, nearly every letter in a written word corresponds to a sound in speech, making this language a simpler one to learn.

Telugu is also suitable for music because of its words ending with vowels. This makes this language seems to have a natural musicality like a euphonious language. This is a common feature that it shares with Italian, therefore, Telugu is often referred to as the 'Italian of the East'.

Number of Telugu speakers in India (2023 census): 9.6 crore individuals

Marathi is the fourth most common language spoken by people in India. It is an Indo-Aryan language that is used as the official language of various states in the Western part of the country, including Goa and Maharashtra. At the moment, there are more than 84 million people across the nation who claim Marathi as their mother tongue.

There are several factors contributing to why Marathi become one of the most spoken communication tools in India. Because of being the official language of Maharashtra - the second-largest state of India, Marathi become the necessary language that needed to be learned. Specifically, Maharashtra is one of India's largest commercial and industrial centers, which has led to its being called 'The Gateway of India'. Furthermore, its beauty and attractive culture are also appreciated by many. Thus, there are more and more people acquiring this language, to not only shape more imbued cultural identity but also to be beneficial for commercial contractions.

Besides, a wide range of people are loved Marathi due to its seemingly lovely articulation. It is supposed to be serene, blissful, and friendly to speak.

Number of Marathi speakers in India (2023 census): 8.4 crore individuals

Another language that stemmed from the Dravidian civilization is Tamil. Being one of the Dravidian languages, Tamil is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian Union territory of Puducherry. Besides, it is spoken by four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

A large majority of Indian people favor Tamil for several reasons such as its ancient origin, its independent tradition, and its considerate body of ancient literature. This is the official language of Tamil Nadu - one of the oldest civilizations in the world, thus, it is attached to the long history of the Tamil people. This means that there are an extensive collection of temples, festivals, and celebration of the arts, which can spread the popularity of the Tamil language.

Besides, Tamil is one of the most challenging languages to read and speak and takes pride as the oldest language worldwide with a presence even around 5,000 years ago.

Number of Tamil speakers in India (2023 census): roughly 8.97 crore individuals

Gujarati is also another Indo-Aryan language that is descended from Old Gujarati. It is spoken primarily in the Indian state of Gujarat and in neighboring Pakistan. Besides, Gujarati is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world and the official language of Gujarat. With millions of speakers, it is one of the major languages of India. Especially, Gujarati is one of the fastest-growing and most widely spoken Indian languages in the United States and Canada.

Gujarati is popular in India because of the exclusive features of Gujarat and the exceptional people here. Gujarat stretches out into the Arabian Sea, followed by a hint of desert and a long coastline possibility. Therefore, it is renowned for its beaches, temple towns, and a wide range of historic capitals. Wildlife sanctuaries, hill resorts, and natural grandeur are thus the gifts for Gujarat. These privileged conditions fosters the widespread of Gujarati, in order to travel as well as dominate business.

Besides, 20% of all Indians in the United States are from Gujarat. This asserts the popularity of this language not only in India but also abroad.

Numbers of Gujarati speakers in India (2023 census): 8 crore individuals

The next name in the list of the most spoken languages in India must be Urdu. It is viewed as an official language in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Pakistan. Moreover, Urdu is an Eighth Schedule language whose status and cultural heritage are recognized by the Constitution of India and has official status in several Indian states.

This language started evolving from Farsi and Arabic contacts during the invasions of the Indian subcontinent from the 11th century onward and developed more decisively during the Delhi Sultanate. Therefore, it has a rich history and cultural significance and holds a special place among Indians. Furthermore, Urdu is the most beautiful language due to its literature legacy, but that's why it is one of the most sophisticated languages spoken.

Number of Urdu speakers in India (2023 census): 7.2 crore individuals

Being one of the most spoken languages in India, Kannada, also called Kanarese or Kannana, member of the Dravidian language family and the official language of the state of Karnataka in southern India. It is characterized by an unbroken literary history of over a thousand years. It has been presented with 8 Jnanapith awards, the most for any Dravidian language and the second highest for any Indian language. Therefore, this language has a certain specialty in Indian diversity.

Along with Prakit, Sankrit, and Tamil, Kannada is the oldest language that branched off even before the Christian Era, meaning that it was probably spoken before English and Hindi. It is also labeled as 'The Queen of Languagues' of thousands of different languages around the world. Not only due to its long existence, but Kannada is special by lots of other extraordinary features such as no silent letters, ending-with-a-vowel words, its popularity in ancient Greek plays, etc.

Kannada is also the only Indian language for which a foreigner Ferdinand Kittel wrote a Dictionary. All of these features put a high position on this language to the overall Indian languages.

Numbers of Kannada speakers in India (2023 census): 4.4 crore individuals

Also being Indo-Aryan language, some of the first Odia words are found in the 2nd century B.C., meaning that it is a classical language that has a long literary history. It is mainly spoken in the state of Odisha, however, there are lots of significant Odia-speaking populations in other states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh.

Because of the increasing migration of labor, the West Indian state of Gujarat also has a significant population of Odia speakers. Besides, its popularity has been expanding recently to some other areas like New Delhi, Shillong, Vadodara, and more. As the 2011 census stated, 3.1% of Indians in India are Odia speakers, which corresponds to 93% belonging to Odisha.

Like other languages in India, Odia is sweet and beautiful in all its forms with diversity, amalgamate from numerous cultures, traditions, history, and emotions. Its gramamar is also easy-to-use with no genders in verbs or pronouns. At the same time, this language has the richest vocabulary with several synonyms that allows people to use liberally multiple alternatives of the same words in a single phrase.

Numbers of Odia speakers in India (2023 census): 4 crore individuals

Another language that gains popularity among Indian people is Punjabi. Being an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab regions of India, this language is spoken widely not only in India, but other nations such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and more. Besides, the Punjabi language has been able to evolve and adapt over time due to its rich and long history, that's why it is considered one of the most versatile languages all over the world.

Punjabi is an official language in various Indian states. Many say that it is easier to learn Punjabi than to learn Indian as well because of its simpler readability. Its music and festivity are also what this language is famous for. They are often very creative, visually appealing, and dynamic. While music is unique rhythmic beats and high notes, followed by its distinct rhythm, the festivals are carefully held with full of Sikh culture. Therefore, by learning Punjabi, people explore different celebrations, as well as their melody and energy, that's how it increases the reach even further.

However, Punjabi is gradually declining due to the Punjab population reduction by the steady decline in fertility rate and increase in life expectancy.

Number of Punjabi speakers in India (2023 census): 3.8 crore individuals