HOW DID LOCAL FOLKLORE HELP IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SPIRIT ?
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Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore. In late-nineteenth century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one's national identity and restore a sense of one's pride in one's past. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. In Madaras, Natesa Sastri published massive four volume collection of Tamil Folk Tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature ; it was 'the most trustworthy manifestation of people's real thoughts and characteristics'.