How did Marathi become a classical language?

In Focus by The Hindu

On October 3, we saw that the government of India announced classical language status to four languages and Marathi was one of them. We have been hearing how there have been joyous and applauding reactions coming in from Maharashtra but there have been certain debates as well on whether Marathi should be given classical language status or not. How was the journey, and how did this whole process begin? What were the various landmark steps that were taken?