Culture of India

Indian culture has its own pride . It subsist of architecture, languages spoken, Music, food & customs. 

According to recent census there are about 19,500 mother tongue languages spoken across India.
The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages – Assamese, Bengali,
Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi,
Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
Tamil one of India's major classical languages, descends from Proto-Dravidian languages spoken around t
he third millennium BCE in peninsular India. 

Dance and music first emerged as part of festivals and religious worship and of dramatic arts in India.
The oldest archaeological evidence of dance exists in the form of pictures and sculptures
dating from about 2500 B.C. Because of their close links with religion and ritual, dances are mentioned
in the Vedas too. 

At one point of time, both dance and music,  became connected with drama. The earliest written work
dealing with all aspects of music and dance was the Natyashastra (Handbook on Dramatic Arts).
A legend says that this text was composed by a wise old man named Bharatamuni.
Many of India's classical dance styles are descended from styles described in this book. 

With the first period of Muslim rule in India in the 1200's, music became split into the northern tradition of
Hindustani music and the southern tradition of Carnatic music. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was the first
great composer-musician of Hindustani music. The greatest composer-musician of Hindustani music was
Tansen, a vocalist and instrumentalist at the court of Akbar in the 1500's. The most outstanding
composer-musicians of Carnatic music were a group of three musicians during the early 1800's called
the Trinity--Shyama Shastri, Tyagaraja, and Muthuswami Dikshitar.

The term raga is most vital for Indian classical music. In the 13th century, the theorist Sarngadeva
has written the large Sangitaratnakara with 264 ragas. Indian folk music are formed with several regional
or local music forms. It is basically performed in various festivals in different parts of India.
Some important music forms of this type are Bihu music of Assam, Bhangra music in the Punjab,
Dandiya dance music in the Punjab , Lavani music of Maharashtra, Rabindra Sangeet of West Bengal,
Theru Kuthu in Tamil Nadu. 

Here are five major styles of classical dance in India:
1) Bharata Natyam, (2) Kathak, (3) Kathakali, (4) Manipuri, and (5) Orissi.
Each of these styles developed in a specific region of India. They differ in their languages of gesture.
But they are all founded on the principles of rasa and they all draw upon stories and poems that tell
about the lives of the Hindu gods. These include gods such as Shiva, (the god of the dance), Krishna,
and many more. 

Temple also called Mandir or Kovil, considered as significant place of worship. It almost a daily observance of
people in India to visit temple on major festivals and regular days. Temples are also structure of architecture in
many states. Vaishno Devi , Kedarnath, Badrinath, Golden Temple, Tirupathi Balaji , Sabarimala, Konark Hindu,
Khajuraho , chola temple in South India to name a few famous temples throughout India. Of these,khajuraho,
chola and konark stands as UNESCO world heritage sites.   

Adi Shankaracharya was an early 8th century Indian philosopher and theologian who expounded the doctrine
of Advaita Vedanta. He is credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.
Seven principles of Adi Shankarcharya, Ganapathyeem,Kowmaram, Sowram, Vaishnavam,Shaivam & Shaktham. 

India has one of the oldest civilizations on the planet,with the most diverse cultural history and inhabited by
multiple races, religions, and languages is a goldmine for the study of architectural evolution throughout history.
One can easily see the different architectural styles reflecting in the buildings all over the country. This unique
development of assimilating a wide variety of cultures enables us to learn how such a diverse society has
evolved. The most iconic yet totally independent and different architectural masterpieces have their own
style of architecture. These styles were developed according to the geological conditions, cultural inclinations
as well as technological advancements in their own era.

In the words of Mark Twain,
“So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most
extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten,
nothing overlooked.”

Indian cuisine is known for its large assortment of dishes. The cooking style varies from region to region and
is largely divided into South Indian & North Indian cuisine. India is quite famous for its diverse multi cuisine
available in a large number of restaurants and hotel resorts, which is reminiscent of unity in diversity.
The staple food in India includes wheat, rice and pulses. 

 

There is hardly any culture in a world that is as varied and unique as India. India is home to some of the most
ancient civilizations, including four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
India also sees a large number of festivals, mainly because of the prevalence of diverse religions and groups.
The Muslims celebrate Eid, the Christians have Christmas, Good Friday, the Sikhs have Baisakhi , and
the Hindus have Diwali, Holi, Makar Sakranti, the Jains have Mahavir Jayanti, the Buddhists celebrate
the Buddha Poornima, and quite honestly, the number is endless. All of these translate to holidays in our book,
of course.

India is well known for its film industry, which is often referred to as Bollywood. The country's movie history began
in 1896 when the Lumière brothers demonstrated the art of cinema in Mumbai. 

Today, India is a very diverse country, with more than 1.2 billion people.Language, religion, food and the arts
are just some of the various aspects of Indian culture.  The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct
cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. Let’s embrace it all together, sustain and
lead it for future generations. JAI HIND.

Aparna Sriram