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The culture of India is one of the oldest cultures known to humanity. In modern India, there is remarkable cultural diversity throughout the country. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche.
Indian culture treats guests as god and serves them and takes care of them as if they are a part and parcel of the family itself. Even though we don’t have anything to eat, the guests are never left hungry and are always looked after by the members of the family.
Elders and the respect for elders is a major component in Indian culture.
Elders are the driving force for any family and hence the love and respect for elders comes from within and is not artificial. An individual takes blessings from his elders by touching their feet. Elders drill and pass on the Indian culture within us as we grow.
“Respect one another” is another lesson that is taught from the books of Indian culture. All people are alike and respecting one another is ones duty. In foreign countries the relation between the boss and the employee is like a master and slave and is purely monetary whereas in Indian culture the relation between the boss and the employee is more like homely relations unlike foreign countries.
Helpful nature is another striking feature in our Indian culture.
Right from our early days of childhood we are taught to help one another in need of help and distress. If not monetary then at least in kind or non-monetary ways.
Indian culture tells us to multiply and distribute joy and happiness and share sadness and pain. It tells us that by all this we can develop co-operation and better living amongst ourselves and subsequently make this world a better place to live in.
India is very rich in its customs and traditions which keeps it people binding together. Take a peek in this section and find out about the various Indian customs and traditions that makes every tradition a festival in itself.
With its long and rich history, India retains many outstanding archaeological landmarks; preeminent of these are the Buddhist remains at Sarnath, Sanchi, and Bodh Gaya; the cave temples at Ajanta, Ellora, and Elephanta; and the temple sites at Madurai, Thanjavur, Abu, Bhubaneswar, Konarak, and Mahabalipuram. For other aspects of Indian culture, see Hindu music; Indian art and architecture; Indian literature; Mughal art and architecture; Pali canon; Prakrit literature; Sanskrit literature.
Festivals in India are characterized by colour, gaiety,enthusiasm, prayers and rituals. The majority are from the Hindu tradition, one of the most popular festivals being Diwali/Deepavali; the legends associated with it are drawn from the Hindu epic Ramayana and the Devi Mahatmya, depending on the region.
Other popular Hindu festivals include Navaratri/Dasara (which is held in celebration of the Hindu goddess Durga), the final and ninth day of which culminates in a massive Durga Puja; it is most popular in West Bengal), Pongal/Sankranti (which is held as a thanksgiving for the harvest to the elements and cattle), Ganesh Chaturthi (a fourteen-day festival dedicated to the Hindu God Ganesh and is most popular in Maharashtra and Ugadi/Gudi Padva). Collections of Diyas Dipãvali (also transliterated Deepavali; Sanskrit: row of lights) or Diwãli (contracted spelling) is the Hindu Festival of Lights and marks the victory of good over the evil. Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman(crouching) The Ramayana (Sanskrit: march (ayana) of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki Navratri or Navratra is a Hindu festival of worship and dance.
Although Hindi (spoken in the north) and English (the language of politics and commerce) are used officially, more than 1,500 languages and dialects are spoken.
The Indian constitution recognizes 15 regional languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu). Ten of the major states of India are generally organized along linguistic lines.
Sanskrit, the classical language of India, represents the highest achievement of the lndo-Aryan languages* Although hardly spoken now-a-days, Sanskrit has been listed a nationally accepted language in the VIII Schedule to the Constitution.
Dravidian languages form agroup by themselves, and unlike the Aryan, Austric or SinoTibetan speeches, have no relations outside the Indian sut"continent, that is, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Dravidian family is lie second largest group in India, covering about 25% of the total Indian oooulation. |
