HINDI is the world's third most spoken language, and to mark the importance of the language, Fiji joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Hindi Day yesterday.
Hundreds, including academics, diplomats, teachers and students, gathered at the University of the South Pacific to mark this auspicious occasion.
Speaking during the celebrations, permanent secretary for education Dr Brij Lal said Hindi, as a language, had faced a lot of challenges in Fiji.
Dr Lal said though much had been done to preserve it at national level, the decline in the population of Indian origin because of lower birth rates and migration had affected the language.
He said Hindi was thriving in rural areas in Fiji but because of the rise in rural-urban drift, student roll studying Hindi had declined.