A Focused Approach for Maithili Wikipedia – Diff
Skip to content
Biplab Anand, a versatile contributor on Maithili and Nepdali Wikipedia and also the admin of the
Facebook page on Maithili Wikipedia
In June of 2014, the Wikimedia blog had an interview with
Ram Prasad Joshi
, a dedicated Wikipedian contributing in six languages –
Nepali
Sanskrit
Hindi
Fiji Hindi
Bhojpuri
and
Gujarati
from his unelectrified remote village in the Western hills of
Nepal
. A few days back, this linguist Wikipedian posted a message of appreciation on compatriot
Biplab Anand’s Incubator talk page
: “बिप्लवजी धन्यवाद यो विकिलाई बाहिर निकाल्ने प्रयास गर्नु पर्ने छ।” which translated states, “Biplab
ji
, thank you for the efforts to bring out this wiki” – referring to Biplab Anand’s dedicated approach in trying to transform
Maithili
Wikipedia from its current incubator status into a full-fledged Wikipedia. Apart from appreciation from several other Wikipedians, on August 17, 2014, Rajbiraj Today, a daily newspaper from Saptari,
Nepal
, carried a special feature highlighting the coordinated tasks accomplished by individuals such as Biplab Anand and Ganesh Paudel with a focus on the genesis of Maithili Wikipedia.
One of the strategies adopted in the effort to launch a Maithili Wikipedia has been the use of social media. Biplab Anand has created a
Facebook page
to spread awareness and educate the people on Maithili Wikipedia. At the time that I wrote this post, the page had garnered 116 likes. The next strategy adopted by Biplab was to post awareness messages for Maithili-knowing Wikipedians on other language Wikipedias where a substantial number of editors could also become aware of the language. As part of this strategy, a message was posted on
the Hindi Wikipedia Village Pump
. During
Wikimania 2014
, another Maithili Wikipedian, Ganesh Paudel, managed to meet
MF-Warburg
, the admin, bureaucrat and importer of Wikimedia Incubator and also the member of the Language Committee, to discuss ways of unleashing the potential of an independent Maithili Wikipedia
(see
this discussion
Ganesh Paudel, one of the high profile contributors of the Maithili and Nepali Wikipedias.
As these developments were in progress, I interviewed both Biplab Anand and Ganesh Paudel about the path ahead via a
questionnaire
. Both expressed their concern over the fact that a separate Maithili Wikipedia does not exist despite the language being native to over 40 million people in both
Nepal
and
India
. As to whether a Maithili organization can possibly support the language Wikipedia the way Samskrita Bharati does for Sanskrit Wikipedia
(see
this blog post
, it emerged that currently it is not possible to expect such a strong institutional support for the cause. However, Biplab mentioned the possibility of garnering support from
Maithili Sahitya Parishad Saptari Nepal
in organizing Maithili Wikipedia Outreach programs in
Nepal
Regarding the quality improvement in the current content and contributions, it was felt that most of the articles are currently stubs and need revision. Similarly, the present articles are generally focused on personalities and places. However, a page on the
essential prerequisite articles
has been created and it is expected that as more editors join the arena, articles on diverse topics such as medicine, history, engineering, etc will also gain momentum. The vast geographical area where Maithili is spoken has given rise to a number of distinctly identifiable but mutually intelligible dialects. Biplab suggested the use of the Kalyani Maithili Dictionary as a standard for the language. Ganesh has identified several online resources which can be particularly helpful to the editors in accomplishing their tasks such as
Bataah Maithili
Vidyapati
Videha
Mithila News
Esamaad
and
Mithila Lok
. He also suggested that the next Maithili project could be the language Wikisource to start the documentation of ancient works.
There is a spirit of achievement among the small but growing community of Maithili Wikipedians, who are currently between 50-60 in number. Biplab Anand confirmed the presence of more than 1000 articles on the Maithili Incubator Project on
his Hindi Wikipedia talk page
. On the other hand, Ganesh Paudel highlighted that his efforts are not ending by simply getting the Maithili Wikipedia out of the incubator as he is equally concerned about having independent
Limbu
Gurung
Tamang
and
Awadhi
Wikipedias. He also spoke about a self-confident approach as a key to success in his statement “if you want Wikipedia in your language come forth, you are the best one to contribute for the growth of your language.” An encouraging development in this context is the assurance by MF-Warburg: “I’ll be glad to approve this project when the activity criteria are met,” referring to the need for sustained editing activity by the dedicated contributors for the next few months to get Maithili Wikipedia as a live and thriving project in the coming months.
Syed Muzammiluddin
, Wikipedian
Share this:
Share on Mastodon (Opens in new window)
Mastodon
Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window)
Bluesky
Archive notice:
This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org, which operated under different editorial and content guidelines than Diff.
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation
Related
Related
Welcome to Diff
Welcome to Diff, a community blog by – and for – the Wikimedia movement. Join Diff today to share stories from your community and comment on articles. We want to hear your voice!
Subscribe to Diff via Email
Wikimedia News
Wikimedia Foundation News
“Cinematic intensity”: The winners of Wiki Loves Earth 2025
2 March 2026
by Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Technology Blog
A Tech Blog Diff
24 February 2026
by LGoto
Down the Rabbit Hole
Announcing Wikipedia’s top 25 most-read articles of 2025
2 December 2025
by Wikimedia
Report this comment
wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to
Move Comment