This reference book allows everyone who loves India to discover the different Indian literary traditions or to put them in context, concentrating in particular on literatures written in the vernacular (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu) which are little known in comparison to their counterparts written in English. The excerpts are taken from many books, all translated into French.
The translators and presenters are all specialists in the languages concerned. For example, Annie Montaut is an expert in Hindi who wrote the general introduction to the volume. She has also written an introduction to theater in India.