Culture of India is the one of the richest in the whole world. Its the amalgamation of the various sub-cultures prevalent in differnt parts of the country. “Unity in diversity” is truly justified when we see people from differnt culture working hand in hand towards a better India. We have a plethora of differnt language,religion,dance, music,architecture,food,customs,clothing etc. The most spoken language is standard Hindi followed by Bengali,Telgu,Marathi and Tamil. Sanskrit has had a profound impact on the languages and literature of India.
Hindi is a “Sanskritized register” of the Khariboli dialect and is also the official language in addition to English. Individual mother tongues in India number several hundred. Traditional clothing in India is mainly influenced by local culture,geography and climate. Indian value system has had a great impact on dress etiquette. It discourages exposure of skin. Though we can see a fusion of Indian and western clothing styles in contemporary India. India is known for its silk and khadi clothing.
The sari worn by females and dhoti and lungi worn by males are very popular besides these there is kurti-pyjama,churidaar,lehenga,ghagra,and several other attire worn in different parts of the country. The bindi worn by ladies on the forehead has become a style statement these days. Some traditions consider it the “third eye” and earlier it was usually worn by married women. India is heaven for the foodie. Indian cusine is known around the world. It can be split into 5 categories — northern, southern, eastern, western and north-eastern.
From the lip smacking Mughlai food,the light scrumptious south indian food,mouth-watering lassi of Punjab,popular dhokla of Gujrat,tasty mo-mos of sikkim, the delicious chat and panipuri, yummy ragullas -there is a something for everyone. Indian cuisine is characterized by the extensive use of oil,herbs and spices. Sea food plays a major role in the coastal regions. India is the birth place of hinduism,buddhism,jainism and sikhism. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Baha’i Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. The religion of 80% of the people is Hinduism.
Islam is practiced by around 13% of all Indian. It is holy land of birth of lord Krishna and lord Rama,it is where lordBuddha attained Enlightenment. The Constitution of India declares the nation to be a secular republic that must uphold the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith (with activities subject to reasonable restrictions for the sake of morality, law and order, etc. ). The Constitution of India also declares the right to freedom of religion as a fundamental right. Many rituals are practised by people belonging to different religions among which keeping fast is a common one.
Indians celebrate festivals with great enthusiasm. Certain festivals are celebrated by multiple religions for example diwali is celebrated by hindus,sikhs and jains, and buddha purnima by both buddhists and hindus. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga puja, Holi, Rakshabandhan and Dussehra. Several harvest festivals, such as Sankranthi, Pongal and Onam,”Nuakhai” are also fairly popular. Islamic festivals, such Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan, are celebrated by Muslims across India.
Sikh Festivals , such as Guru Nanak Jayanti, Baiskhi are celebrated with full fanfare by Sikhs and Hindu. Then there is Chritmas,easter,good Friday for the christians. Under performing it has various dance forms and music ranging from classical to Indi-pop. In folk dance it is famous for bhangra of punjab,bihu of assam,chhau of jharkhand and orissa,ghoomar of rajasthan,dandiya and garba of gujrat, lavani of maharashtra. In classical there are the world known dance forms like the Bharatnattyam of tamil Nadu,kathak of UP, mohniattam of kerela, kuchipudi of andhara pradesh,manipuri of manipur,oddisi of odisha and many more.
Under visual arts there is the famous rock paintings of ajanta and ellora caves. Then there are the paintings in temples in different parts of india some of which also have mural paintings. The various generes of indian art are Madhubani, mysore,Tanjore,Rajput and mughal. Some of the sculptures of india date back to the indus valley civilization. The indus valley civilization is an example of well planned architecture of ancient india. With time architecture saw many changes, it kept on absorbing new ideas. India is known for its monuments,forts,stupas and temples.
The taj mahal is amongst the seven wonders of the world. Fatehpur Sikri, Gol Gumbaz, Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Sanchi Stupa,Dilwara Temples form the rich cultural heritage. India is known for Ayurveda and yoga. Sanskrit term, made up of the words “ayus” and “veda. ” “Ayus” means life and “Veda” means knowledge or science. The term “ayurveda” thus means ‘the knowledge of life’ or ‘the science of life’. Widely regarded as the oldest form of healthcare in the world, Ayurveda is an intricate medical system that originated in India thousands of years ago.
The aim of this system is to prevent illness, heal the sick and preserve life. Yoga is a healing system of theory and practice. It is a combination of breathing exercises,physical postures, and meditation that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years. A large number of people have benefited from these traditional methods to healthy living. In a nutshell the beauty of indian culture cannot be expressed in words, to know it you have to visit those places, meet people and to feel good about being a part of such a diverse and rich culture. India is indeed the cynosure of all eyes.
