The '
culture of
India' had history, all the while absorbing customs, traditions, and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs, and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.
In modern India there is cultural and religious diversity, and the many regions of India have distinct identities. Almost every
state has even carved out its own cultural niche. In spite of this unique cultural diversity, the whole country is bound as a civilization due to its common history, thereby preserving the national identity.
India was the birth place of religious systems such as
Hinduism,
Jainism,
Buddhism, and
Sikhism, each of which have had a strong influence not only over India but also over the rest of the world. Following the Islamic invasions and the subsequent foreign domination from the tenth century onwards, the culture of India was heavily influenced by
Persian,
Arabic and
Turkic cultures. In turn, the various religions and the multi-hued
traditions of India have influenced
South East Asia and other parts of the world.
Overview
Regions
Cultural regions of India.
Indian culture can be classified into many varied form which are existent in their totality throughout India. The culture of India has been influenced by various religions and customs of the world, which has resulted in the mingling of religious values, folk idioms, and art forms. While the religious influence is quite evident in the "classical" Indian culture mostly found in smaller towns and villages, the urban India is now widely influenced by globalization.
Language
As well as regional diversity, languages have created diverse traditions of culture in India. There are a large number of languages in India, 216 of each of which are spoken by a group of 10,000 people or more, although there are others that are spoken in India by fewer than 10,000 people. If these languages are included, there are 415 living languages in India.
[ Indian Language Families (based on the 1991 census) ] The two major families of languages are those of the
Indo-Aryan languages and those of the
Dravidian languages, the former being largely confined to
North India and the latter to
South India. The
Constitution of India has stipulated the usage of
Hindi and
English to be the two
official languages of communication for union government. There is another language family in India which is spoken by about 3% of the people. These languages falls in the language family of
Tibeto-Burman languages, which is a subgroup of the
Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Besides this, many other languages in India can be divided into 10 other families of languages.
A further twenty-two languages are scheduled for
official use, mainly by state governments.
Cultural Policy
The cultural policy of the
Government of India has three major objectives. One is to preserve the
cultural heritage of India; two to inculcate Indian art consciousness amongst countrymen; and three to promote high standards in creative and performing arts fields.
Literature
History
The earliest literary traditions were mostly oral and passed down through descendants by citizens. Later, though, they were transcribed. Most of these spring from
Hindu tradition and are represented by sacred works such as the
Vedas, the epics of the
Mahabharata and
Ramayana.
Tamil Sangam literature represents some of India's oldest secular traditions. Many
Buddhist and
Jain works are in
Prakrit languages like
Pali. The classical works of playwright
Kalidasa even today exert an important influence on Indian litterateurs. The Tamil Ramayana (translated from the original Valmiki Ramayana) by
Kamban is considered to be a classical masterpiece. Kamban and Kalidasa have been rightly given the title of "Kavi Chakravarthi" (King among Poets).
Upon the arrival of
Mughal dynasty,
Islamic culture also influenced the medieval Indian literature. This was due to the spreading influence of
Persian and the rise of famous poets such as
Amir Khusro. Colonial rule prepared the stage for modern literature exemplified by the works of
Rabindranath Tagore,
Subhramanya Bharati,
Kuvempu,
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay,
Michael Madhusudan Dutt,
Munshi Premchand,
Devaki Nandan Khatri, among many others. Indian writers in modern times, like
R. K. Narayan,
Poornachandra Tejaswi,
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer,
Mahasweta Devi,
Amrita Pritam,
Arundhati Roy,
Vikram Seth,
Khushwant Singh,
Salman Rushdie, and
Moncy Pothen, have been the cynosures of wide acclaim, both in Indian languages and
English .
Poetry
India has strong traditions of poetry, as well as prose writing. This is often closely related to musical traditions, and most poetry can be attributed to religious movements. Writers and philosophers were often also skilled poets. In modern times, poetry has served as an important non-violent tool of nationalism during the Indian freedom movement. A famous modern example of this tradition can be found in such figures as Rabindranath Tagore in modern times and poets such as
Kabir in medieval times, as well as the epics of ancient times. Two examples of poetry from Tagore's Gitanjali serve as the national anthems of both
India and
Bangladesh.
Epics
The
Ramayana and
Mahabharata are not only considered epics of India and Hinduism, but serve as the folk epics of other Asian countries like
Thailand,
Malaysia and
Indonesia. In this respect, they are considered by many to be the 'eastern' equivalents of the classical epics of Europe, namely
Iliad and
Odissi. Similarly there are five epics in the classical Tamil language -they being
Silappadhikaram,
Manimegalai,
Jeevaga-chintamani,
Valayaapathi,
Kundalakesi.
Other regional variations of these stories, and unrelated epics include such as the Tamil
Kamba Ramayanam, Kannada
Pampa Bharata, Karnata Bharata KathaManjari by
Kumaravyasa, Hindi
Ramacharitamanasa,Malayalam
Adhyathmaramayanam.
Performing arts
Music
The music of India includes multiples varieties of
folk,
popular,
pop, and classical music.
India's classical music tradition, including
Carnatic and
Hindustani music, noted for the use of several
Raga, has a history spanning millennia and, developed over several eras, remains instrumental to the religious inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. Alongside distinctly subcontinental forms there are major similarities with other types of oriental music . Indian genres/fusions like
filmi and
bhangra have become popular throughout the United Kingdom, South and East Asia, and around the world.
Dance
India offers a number of
Classical Indian dance forms, each of which can be traced to different parts of the country. Each form represents the culture and ethos of a particular region or a group of people. The nine main styles are
Garba,
Bharatanatyam,
Kathak,
Odissi,
Yakshagana,
Kuchipudi,
Mohiniattam,
Bhangra,
Manipuri and
Kathakali. Besides, there are several forms of
Indian folk dances, and special dances observed in regional festivals.
Drama and theatre
Indian drama and theatre is perhaps as old as its music and dance.
Kalidas' plays like
Shakuntala and
Meghadoot are some of the oldest plays from literary traditions. The tradition of folk theatre is alive in nearly all the linguistic regions of the country. In addition, there is a rich tradition of puppet theatre in rural India. Group Theatre is also thriving in the cities, initiated by the likes of
Utpal Dutt,
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and still maintained by groups like
Nandikar and
Prithvi Theatre.
Visual arts
Painting
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of
pre-historic times, the
petroglyphs as found in places like
Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than
550 BC. Ancient texts outline theories of darragh and anecdotal accounts suggesting that it was common for households to paint their doorways or indoor rooms where guests resided.
Cave paintings from
Ajanta,
Bagh,
Ellora and
Sittanavasal and temple paintings testify to a love of naturalism and God. Most rock art in India is Hindu or Buddhist. A freshly made coloured flour design (
Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostly South Indian) Indian homes.
Madhubani painting,
Rajput painting,
Tanjore painting,
Mughal painting are some notable ; while
Raja Ravi Varma,
Nandalal Bose,
Geeta Vadhera,
Jamini Roy are some modern painters.
Jehangir Art Gallery,
Mumbai, has on display several good Indian paintings.
Sculpture
The first
sculptures in India date back to the
Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze carvings have been discovered. This is one of the earliest instances of sculpture in the world. Later, as
Hinduism,
Buddhism, and
Jainism developed further, India produced some of the most intricate
bronzes in the world, as well as unrivalled temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at
Ellora were not actually constructed using blocks, but instead carved out of solid rock, making them perhaps the largest and most intricate sculptures in the world.
The pink
sandstone sculptures of
Mathura evolved during the
Gupta period (4th to 6th century) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicaracy in the modeling. Newer sculptures in northwest, in
stucco,
schist, or
clay, display very strong blending of Indian post-Gupta mannerism and Classical influence,
Hellenistic or possibly even
Greco-Roman. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, less anatomically accurate styles of human representation evolved leading to the classical art that the world is now familiar with and contributing to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Asia.
Architecture
The
Ellora temples were not constructed, but in fact carved out of solid rock
Indian architecture is that vast tapestry of production of the Indian Subcontinent that encompasses a multitude of expressions over space and time, transformed by the forces of history considered unique to the sub-continent, sometimes destroying, but most of the time absorbing new ideas. The result is an evolving range of architectural production that nonetheless retains a certain amount of continuity across history. The earliest production in the Indus Valley Civilization was characterised by well planned cities and houses where religion did not seem to play an active role, but which demonstrated world-famous city planning.
During the reign of the
Gupta and
Maurya empires, several Buddhist architectural examples like caves of
Ajanta and
Ellora and the monumental
Sanchi Stupa were built. South India contains several Hindu temples like
Brihadeeswara Temple,
Thanjavur, the
Sun Temple,
Konark,
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at
Srirangam, and the
Buddha stupa (Chinna Lanja dibba and Vikramarka kota dibba) at
Bhattiprolu.
Angkor Wat and other
Buddhist and
Hindu temples carry the evidence of Indian influence on South East Asian architecture, as they are built in styles almost identical to traditional Indian temple building.
With the advent of Islamic influence from the west, the erstwhile Indian architecture was slightly adapted to allow the traditions of the new religion.
Fatehpur Sikri,
Taj Mahal,
Gol Gumbaz,
Qutub Minar,
Red Fort of Delhi are the creations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbols of India, despite the greater antiquity and originality of traditional architecture. The colonial rule of the British Indian Empire saw the development of
Indo-Saracenic style, and mixing of several other styles, such as European gothic.
Victoria Memorial,
Victoria Terminus are notable examples. Recent creations such as
Lotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of India, are also notable.
The traditional system of
Vaastu Shastra serves as India's version of
Feng Shui, influencing town planning, architecture, and ergonomics. It is unclear which system is older, but they contain many similarities. Although
Feng Shui is more commonly used throughout the world.Though Vastu is conceptually similar to
Feng Shui in that it also tries to harmonize the flow of energy, (also called life-force or
Prana in
Sanskrit and
Chi/
Ki in
Chinese/
Japanese), through the house, it differs in the details, such as the exact directions in which various objects, rooms, materials etc are to be placed.
Indian architecture has influence the world, especially eastern Asia, due to the spread of ideas with Buddhism. A number of Indian architectural features such as the temple mound or
stupa, temple spire or
sikhara, temple tower or
pagoda and temple gate or
torana, have become famous symbols of Asian culture, used extensively in
East Asia and
South East Asia. The central spire is also sometimes called a
vimanam. The variant southern temple gate, or
gopuram is noted for its intricacy and majesty. The
arch, a cornerstone of world architecture, was first developed by the
Indus Valley civilization and would later be a staple of Indian architecture.
Recreation and sports
In the area of recreation and sports India had evolved a number of games. The modern eastern martial arts originated as ancient games and martial arts in India and it was from here that these games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further modernized. Additionally, a few games introduced during the
British Raj have grown quite popular in India,
field hockey,
football (soccer) and especially
cricket.
Although field hockey is India's official national sport, cricket is by far the most popular sport not only in India, but the entire
subcontinent, thriving recreationally and professionally. Cricket has even been used recently as a forum for diplomatic relations between India and long-standing rival,
Pakistan. The two nations' cricket teams face off annually and such contests are quite impassioned on both sides. Traditional indigenous sports include
kabaddi and
gilli-danda, which are played in most parts of the country. Indoor and outdoor games like
Chess,
Snakes and Ladders,
Playing cards,
Polo,
Carrom,
Badminton are popular.
Clothing
Indian Sarees/Saris
For men it consists of Dhoti and Lungi
Cuisine
The cuisine of Modern India has great variety and each region has its own distinctive flavours. The staple cereals are rice and wheat.
North Indian staple meals consist of ''
chapatis'' or ''
rotis'', wheat based and rice as staples, eaten with a wide variety of side dishes like
dals,
curries,
yogurt,
chutney and ''
achars''.
South India staple dishes consist of rice,
sambhar,
rasam, yoghurt and curries being important side dishes.
Popular media
Cinema
Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular
Mumbai-based
film industry in
India. Bollywood and the other major cinematic hubs (
Bengali,
Kannada,
Malayalam,
Tamil,
Telugu) constitute the broader
Indian film industry, whose output is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of
films produced and number of tickets sold.
Bollywood films are usually
musicals, though not in the Western sense of the word. Indian movies have a regular plot, with songs and dances interspersed to add to the entertainment value of the movie. Few movies are made without at least one song-and-dance number. Indian audiences expect full value for their money; they want songs and dances, romance,
comedy and dare-devil thrills, all mixed up in a three hour long extravaganza with intermission. Such movies are called ''masala'' movies, after the Indian spice mixture ''masala''. Like ''masala'', these movies are a mixture of many things. Plots tend to be melodramatic. They frequently employ formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains,
courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences, and even movies with tri polar changes that can turn a movie and its plot upside down.Bollywood is becoming increasingly popular in other countries including several places in Europe and the U.S. Some Bollywood actors have adapted to more Hollywood-type films in movies like
Bend It Like Beckham and
Bride and Prejudice. Bollywood's fame is increasing internationally as more and more people across the globe are exposed to its style.
Besides the regular ''masala'' film, India has also produced many critically acclaimed cinema-makers like
Satyajit Ray,
Ritwik Ghatak,
Adoor Gopalakrishnan,
Girish Kasaravalli,
Ram Gopal Varma,
Mani Ratnam, G. Aravindan etc. (See
Indian film directors). In fact, with the opening up of the economy in the recent years & consequent exposure to world cinema, audience tastes have been changing. Indian commercial movies have also started following authentic, real world themes with a lower amount of melodrama & some do not even contain songs. In addition, multiplexes have mushroomed in most cities, changing the revenue patterns & allowing film makers greater liberty & scope for executing bold & innovative ideas which would not have been possible even a decade ago.
Television
Main articles: Television in India
Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for educational telecasts.
[ A Snapshot of Indian Television History ] Indian small screen programming started off in the early
1980s. At that time there was only one national channel
Doordarshan, which was government owned. The
Ramayana and
Mahabharat were some among the popular television series produced. By the late 1980s more and more people started to own television sets. Though there was a single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the government opened up another channel which had part national programming and part regional. This channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcasted terrestrially.
In 1994, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to
cable television. Since then, there has been a spurt in the number of channels available. Today, Indian silver screen is a huge industry by itself, and has thousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as working women, and even men of all kinds. Some small time actors have made it big in Bollywood. Indian TV has evolved to be similar to Western TV, including stations such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and MTV India.
Radio
Radio broadcasting began in India in
1927, with two privately owned
transmitters at
Mumbai and
Calcutta. These were nationalised in
1930 and operated under the name "Indian Broadcasting Service" until
1936, when it was renamed
All India Radio (AIR). Although officially renamed again to ''Akashwani'' in
1957, it is still popularly known as All India Radio.
All India Radio is a division of
Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India), an autonomous corporation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India. It is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's
Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster.indian women are effected by daily serials.Since the turn of the 20th century, radio frequencies in India have been aggressively opened up to broadcasters on the FM and AM bands, although such service has been mostly limited to the metropolitan areas. Cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and many others have many private FM channels to broadcast popular hindi and english music, although they are still not allowed to broadcast news like Akashwani does.
Recently
World Space launched the country's first sattelite radio service.
Religion and philosophy
Philosophy
Main articles: Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy throughout the ages has had a tremendous impact on world thought, especially in the east. Various
theistic schools of philosophy, such as the many schools of
Buddhism and
Hinduism, have had huge influences, but also, India produced some of the longest and most influential secular traditions of
logic,
rationalism,
science,
mathematics,
materialism,
atheism,
agnosticism, etc, which are often overlooked due to popular conception that India is a 'mystical' country.
Many of the complex scientific and mathematical concepts such as the idea of
zero, found their way to
Europe via
Arab intermediaries. The most famous school of Indian atheism, is
Carvaka, considered by some to be the oldest materialistic school of thought in the world, composed around the same time as the Hindu
Upanishads, as well as the philosophy of
Buddhism and
Jainism. This period around 600-400 BCE marked a huge leap in both Indian philosophy and world philosophy in general, with contemporary
Greek schools emerging simultaneously. Some philosophical concepts from India were introduced to the Greeks, especially during the campaigns of
Alexander the Great, and vis a vis, leading some schools of classical Greek philosophy to be almost identical to prior Indian schools.
In addition to the unbroken high emphasis placed on philosophy in India, which has existed since ancient times, modern India has produced some of the world's most influential philosophers of modern times, who have written both in their
native languages, and often
English. During the British occupation of India, various thinkers, both secular and religious, achieved a new level of recognition across the world as both ancient Indian texts, and the work of contemporary Indian philosophers was translated into English,
German and other languages.
Swami Vivekananda travelled to America and participated in the
1893 World Parliament of Religions, impressing delegates with a groundbreaking speech that for the first time gave access to eastern, Indian, Hindu and
dharmic philosophy to western intellectuals.
As well as various religious thinkers
Mahatma Gandhi,
Rabindranath Tagore and other members of the Indian freedom movement, generated political philosophy, and formed the basis of modern Indian democracy, secularism and liberalism. Today, economists such as
Amartya Sen, who won Asia's first
Nobel Prize in economics, continue to give India a reputation as an important contributor to world thought.
Religion
Main articles: Religion in India,
Indian religions
The
Indian religions, one of the two main families of world religion (the other being the
Abrahamic), originated in India. They include
Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Sikhism,
Jainism and other schools of language. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and fourth largest religions respectively, with a collective 1.4 billion followers, despite being free of any evangelistic traditions. Unlike the
sectarianism that has often marked differences among the Abrahamic schools, the philosophical-like treatment of these religions has generally made the idea of rivalry and conversion alien, leading to extremely close relationships between these faiths.
India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with one of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of the country and most of its people. The religion of more than 80.4% of the people is
Hinduism, considered the world's oldest religious and philosophical system.
Islam is practiced by around 13.4% of all Indians.
[ Religions Muslim ] Sikhism,
Buddhism and
Jainism are systems that are strong and influential not only in India but across the world.
Christianity,
Zoroastrianism,
Judaism and the
Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life,
atheism and
agnostics are also visible influences.
See also
★
Indian cuisine
★
Hindu wedding
★
Mass media in India
★
South Indian culture
References
External links
★
Indian Govt. Site devoted to preserving manuscripts and making them available
'Articles'
★
Treasure House of India's Art and Culture
★
IndianCultureOnline.com - Indian Culture Photos+Detail Information
★
Culture Coverage
★
An Introduction to Indian Culture
'Books'
★ Varma, Pavan K. ''Being Indian: Inside the Real India''. (ISBN 0-434-01391-9)
★
Tully, Mark. ''No Full Stops in India''. (ISBN 0-14-010480-1)
★
Naipaul, V.S. ''. (ISBN 0-7493-9920-1)
★ Grihault, Nicki. ''India - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette''. (ISBN 1-85733-305-5)
★ Manjari Ukil, ''Foreign Infuence on Indian Culture (c.600 BC to AD 320)'', (ISBN 81-88629-60-X)
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