Nationalism developed through revival of the Indian folklore in the following ways.
(a) Indian nationalists took the responsibility of collecting and recording folktales sung by bards as well as legends.
(b) Many nationalists travelled to villages to gather folksongs, folktales and legends and considered them to give a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by the outside forces.
(c) They felt that it was necessary to preserve folk tradition to discover national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past.
(d) Rabindranath Tagore began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths and led the movement for folk revival.
(e) Natesa Sastri began publishing a massive fourvolume of Tamil folk tales, called The Folklore of Southern India. He assumed folklore as national literature and the most trustful source of people’s thoughts and characteristics.
