Mumbai, May 1 (IANS): The world's first Marathi language university will come up at Ridhpur in Amravati district of eastern Maharashtra as the state government is urging the Centre to confer it the status of a 'classical language', Governor Ramesh Bais said here on Monday.

"The state government is taking up the matter with the Union government for giving the status of classical language to Marathi. A Marathi language University will be established at Ridhpur in Amravati, in the near future," he said on the occasion of the 63rd Maharashtra Day celebrations.

Til now, 6 Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia - have been given the status of classical languages by the Centre, and Maharashtra is demanding a similar recognition for Marathi since the past several years.

Bais led the official state function by unfurling the national tricolour at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Park at Dadar in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, followed by a ceremonial parade, and many other functions held across Maharashtra to mark the occasion which coincides with the International Labour Day.

He also paid homage to the icons of Maharashtra like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, V.D. Savarkar, and others.

The Governor said that May 28, the birth anniversary of Savarkar, shall be celebrated as the "Swatantraveer Gaurav Din" by the government across the state.