Akashvani

Akashvani may refer to :

Akashvani (term)

Akashvani / Akashwani, आकाशवाणी আকাশবাণী (ākāśavāni), means "celestial announcement from sky" or "sky-voice": a word of Sanskrit origin,. i.e. sounds or message coming from the sky.

The word, Akashwani, seemed to be fit to be used for a Radio company in India literally meaning words & sounds coming from sky. It is said that Rabindranath Tagore coined the word Akashvani for Radio in the 1930s, while some others claim that it was Narayana Kasturi, who coined the word in 1920s. Whatever, may be the fact, All India Radio was officially named Akashvani in year 1956.

References

Akashvani (radio broadcaster)

All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1956 as Ākāshvāṇī (literally, "Voice from the Sky"), is the national public radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1930, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national public television broadcaster. AIR has covered more than 99% of the Indian Population as per the latest information given by Minister of Information and Broadcast. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks in the world. Its headquarters is at the Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi. Akashvani Bhavan houses the Drama Section, the FM Section and the National Service. Doordarshan Kendra (Delhi) offices are also located on the sixth floor at Akashvani Bhavan.

Etymology

The word ākāśavāni (आकाशवाणी) is taken from Sanskrit. In Sanskrit Akashvani means "celestial announcement," or a gift or message from heaven. Often in Hindu mythological stories, folk-tales and fables like Panchatantra & Hitopadesha, whenever Gods wanted to say something, an Akashvani occurred. Literally, akash means "sky" and vani means "sound" or "message".