Culture of India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The culture of India has been shaped by the long history of India, its unique geography and the absorption of customs, traditions and ideas from some of its neighbors as well as by preserving its ancient heritages, from the Indus Valley Civilization onward. India's great diversity of cultural practices, languages, customs, and traditions are examples of this unique co-mingling over the past five millennea. India is also the birth place of several religious systems such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, some of which have had a great influence also in other parts of the world. From the thirteenth century onwards, following the Islamic conquests and the subsequent European colonialization, the culture of India was influenced by Turkish, Persian, Arabic and English cultures. The various religions and traditions of India that were created by these amalgamations have influenced South East Asia and some other parts of the world.
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[edit] Language
The great number of languages in India have added to the diverse cultures and traditions at both regional and national levels. 216 languages are spoken by a group of more than 10,000 people; however there are many others which are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. All together, there are 415 living languages in India. The Constitution of India has stipulated the usage of Hindi and English to be the two official languages of communication for the Union Government. Individual state's own internal communications are done in the state's language. The two major linguistic families in India are those of the Indo-Aryan languages and the Dravidian languages, the former being largely confined to northern, western, central and eastern India and the latter to southern India. The next largest language family in India is the Austro-Asiatic language group, which contains the Munda languages of central and eastern India, the Khasian languages of northeastern India, and the Nicobarese languages of the Nicobar Islands. The fourth largest language family in India is the Tibeto-Burman languages, which are themselves a subgroup of the larger Sino-Tibetan language family.
[edit] Literature
[edit] History
The earliest literary traditions were oral and have been passed down as such. Later, though, they were transcribed. Many of them derive from Hindu tradition and are represented by texts in Sanskrit such as the Vedas, the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Other are in in Tamil Sangam literature from the beginning of the Common Era, and in Kannada such as the writings Prabhrita (650 CE) and Chudamani (Crest Jewel- 650 CE or earlier; a 96,000 verse commentary on logic)[1][2][3]. Furthermore, many Buddhist sutras and Jain works are in Prakrit languages like Pali (c. 250 BCE) and Ardhamagadhi, and later on in Sanskrit. All these represent some of India's oldest literary traditions.
During the period of the Delhi sultanate (after 1200 CE) and in the subsequent Mughal era, Islamic culture has influenced medieval Indian literature.[clarify] This was especially due to the increased influence of Persian, including the work of famous poets such as Amir Khusro.
During the period of English colonial rule, modern literature exemplified by the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Subramania Barathi, Kuvempu, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Munshi Premchand, Muhammad Iqbal, Devaki Nandan Khatri became prominent. In contemporary India, writers like Girish Karnad, Agyeya, Nirmal Verma, Kamleshwar, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Indira Goswami, Mahasweta Devi, Amrita Pritam, Arundhati Roy, Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar, Qurratulain Hyder and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, to name but a few, have been the recipients of critical acclaim.
[edit] Poetry
India has strong traditions of poetry ever since the Rigveda, as well as prose compositions. Poetry is often closely related to musical traditions, and much of 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 and K. S. Narasimhaswamy in modern times and poets such as Basava (vachanas) , Kabir and Purandaradasa (padas and devaranamas) 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.
[edit] Epics
The Ramayana and Mahabharata are the oldest preserved and still well-known epics of India; some of their versions have been adopted as the epics of Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In addition, there are five epics in the classical Tamil language -they being Silappadhikaram, Manimegalai, Jeevaga-chintamani, Valayaapathi, Kundalakesi. Other regional variations of them as well as unrelated epics include the Tamil Kamba Ramayanam, in Kannada, the Pampa Bharata by Adikavi Pampa, Torave Ramayana by Kumara Valmiki and Karnata Bharata KathaManjari by Kumaravyasa, Hindi Ramacharitamanasa, Malayalam Adhyathmaramayanam.
[edit] Performing arts
[edit] Music
The music of India includes multiples varieties of religious, folk, popular, pop, and classical music. The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda that are still sung in certain Vedic Shrauta sacrifices. India's classical music tradition is heavily influenced by Hindu texts. It includes Carnatic and Hindustani music and is 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 some similarities with other types of Oriental music.
Purandaradasa is considered the "father of carnatic music" (Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha).[4][5][6] He concluded his songs with a salutation to Lord Purandara Vittala and is believed to have composed as many as 375,000-450,000[citation needed] songs in the Kannada language. However, only about 1000 are known today.[7][4]
[edit] Dance
Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of Jharkhand and Orissa and the ghoomar of Rajasthan. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of the state of Orissa and the sattriya of Assam.[8]
[edit] Martial arts
Kalarippayattu or Kalari for short is one of the world's oldest martial art. It is preserved in texts such as the Mallapurana. Kalari and other later formed martial arts have been assumed by some to have traveled to China, like Buddhism, and eventually developing into Kung-fu. Other later martial arts are Gatka,Pehlwani,and Malla-yuddha. There have been many great practitioners of Indian martial Arts including Bodhidharma who supposedly brought Indian martial arts to China.
[edit] Drama and theatre
Indian drama and theatre has a long history alongside its music and dance. Kalidasa's plays like Shakuntala and Meghadoota are some of the older plays, following those of Bhasa. One of the oldest surviving theatre tradition of the world is the 2000 year old Kutiyattam of Kerala. It strictly follows the Natya Shastra. The dramas of Bhasa are very popular in this art form. Nātyāchārya (late) Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār- the unrivaled maestro of this art form and Abhinaya, revived the age old drama tradition from extinction. He was known for mastery of Rasa Abhinaya. He started to perform the Kalidasa plays like Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra ; Bhasa's Swapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra; Harsha's Nagananda in Kutiyattam form.
The tradition of folk theatre is alive in nearly all of the linguistic regions of the country.[citation needed] In addition, there is a rich tradition of puppet theatre in rural India, going back to at least the second century BCE. (It is mentioned in Patanjali's commentary on Panini). Group Theatre is also thriving in the cities, initiated by the likes of Gubbi Veeranna[9] Utpal Dutt, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, K. V. Subbanna and still maintained by groups like Nandikar, Ninasam and Prithvi Theatre.
[edit] Visual arts
[edit] Painting
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, some of which go back to the Stone Age. 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. Most early and medieval art in India is Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. A freshly made coloured flour design (Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostly South Indian) Indian homes.
Madhubani painting, Mysore painting, Rajput painting, Tanjore painting, Mughal painting are some notable Genres of Indian Art; while Raja Ravi Varma, Nandalal Bose, Geeta Vadhera,Jamini Roy and B.Venkatappa[10] are some modern painters. Among the present day artists, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamacnahri, Devajyoti Ray and Shibu Natesan represent a new era of Indian art where global art shows direct amalgamation with Indian classical styles. These recent artists have acquired international recognition. Devajyoti Ray's paintings have been acquired by the National Fine Arts Museum in Cuba and so have been the works of some of the new generation artists.
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Mysore Palace has on display several good Indian paintings.
[edit] Sculpture
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The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze figures have been discovered. Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism developed further, India produced some extremely intricate bronzes as well as temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora were not constructed by using blocks but carved out of solid rock.
Sculptures produced in the northwest, in stucco, schist, or clay, display a very strong blend of Indian and Classical Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman influence. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved almost simultaneously. During the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) sculpture reached a very high standard in execution and delicacy in modeling. These styles and others elsewhere in India evolved leading to classical Indian art that contributing to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Southeast Central and East Asia.
[edit] Architecture
Indian architecture encompasses a multitude of expressions over space and time, constantly absorbing new ideas. The result is an evolving range of architectural production that nonetheless retains a certain amount of continuity across history. Some of its earliest production are found in the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE) which is characterised by well planned cities and houses. Religion and kingship do not seem to have played an important role in the planning and layout of these towns.
During the period of the Maurya and Gupta empires and their successors, several Buddhist architectural complexes, such as the caves of Ajanta and Ellora and the monumental Sanchi Stupa were built. Later on, South India produced several Hindu temples like Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura, 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, Borobudur and other Buddhist and Hindu temples indicate strong Indian influence on South East Asian architecture, as they are built in styles almost identical to traditional Indian religious buildings.
With the advent of Islamic influence from the west, Indian architecture was adapted to allow the traditions of the new religion. Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, Gol Gumbaz, Qutub Minar, Red Fort of Delhi are creations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbols of India. The colonial rule of the British Empire saw the development of Indo-Saracenic style, and mixing of several other styles, such as European Gothic. The Victoria Memorial or the Victoria Terminus are notable examples. Recent creations such as the Lotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of India, are 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 certain similarities. 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 influenced eastern and southeastern Asia, due to the spread of 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 southern temple gate, or gopuram is noted for its intricacy and majesty.
[edit] 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 is believed by some that these games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further adapted and modernized. 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 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. Chess was invented in India.
[edit] Clothing
Traditional Indian clothes for women are the sari or the salwar kameez. For men, it is the Dhoti, Lungi or Kurta. India is a fast booming country, even though many old traditions remain, modern day clothing has become more popular than old. Bombay, or also known as Mumbai has become one of India's fashion capitals. Designers such as Manish Malhotra, Hemany Trivedi or Rohit Bal have been caught of eye for their wonderful designs and color from Italian designers such as Donatella Versace, Valentino and the American designer Tommy Hilfiger. In some village parts of India, traditional clothing will be most worn. Delhi, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Pune, are all places for on going shoppers.
[edit] Cuisine
The multiple families of Indian cuisine are characterized by their sophisticated and subtle use of many spices and herbs. Each family of this cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. Though a significant portion of Indian food is vegetarian, many traditional Indian dishes also include chicken, goat, lamb, fish, and other meats.
Food is an important part of Indian culture, playing a role in everyday life as well as in festivals. In many families, everyday meals are sit-down affairs consisting of two to three main course dishes, varied accompaniments such as chutneys and pickles, carbohydrate staples such as rice and roti (bread), as well as desserts. Food is not just important for an Indian family by ways of eating, but it is also taken as a sort of socializing, getting together with a family of many.
Diversity is a defining feature of India's geography, culture, and food. Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse subcontinent. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split into four categories: North, South, East, and West Indian. Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge. Varied uses of spices are an integral part of food preparation, and are used to enhance the flavor of a dish and create unique flavors and aromas. Cuisine across India has also been influenced by various cultural groups that entered India throughout history, such as the Persians, Mughals, and European powers.
[edit] Popular media
[edit] 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, Marathi, 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.
Besides the commercial films, India has also produced many critically acclaimed cinema-makers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Shekhar Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Shankar Nag, Girish Karnad, G. V. Iyer, etc. (See Indian film directors). In fact, with the opening up of the economy in the recent years and 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.
[edit] Television
Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for educational telecasts.[13] Indian small screen programming started off in the mid 1970s. At that time there was only one national channel Doordarshan, which was government owned. 1982 saw revolution in TV programming in India, with the New Delhi Asian games, India saw the colour version of TV, that year. 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 1991, 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 for themselves. 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.
- See also: List of Indian television stations
[edit] 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 satellite radio service.
- See also: All India Radio
[edit] Religion and philosophy
[edit] Philosophy
Indian philosophy throughout the ages has had a tremendous impact on world thought, especially in the east. Following the Vedic period, various schools of philosophy, such as the many sects of Buddhism and Hinduism, have developed over the past 2500 years. However, India has also produced some of the oldest and most influential secular traditions of logic, rationalism, science, mathematics, materialism, atheism, agnosticism, etc., which are often overlooked due to the popular conception that India was and is a 'mystical' country.
Many of 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 Cārvāka, considered by some to be the oldest materialistic school of thought in the world, composed around the same time as the early philosophy of Buddhism and Jainism. The period around 500 BCE is marked a huge leap in both Indian and world philosophy, with contemporaneous Greek schools emerging simultaneously. Some believe that certain Indian philosophical concepts have been introduced to Greece, while others traveled via the Persian empire to India; during and after the campaigns of Alexander the Great such mutual exchanges increased.
In addition to the unbroken high emphasis placed on philosophy in India since ancient times, modern India has produced some very influential philosophers, who have written both in their native languages, and often English. During the British colonialisation of India, certain secular and religious thinkers achieved a similar level of recognition across the world as ancient Indian texts; the work of some of them 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 many of them provided a first introduction to Hindu philosophy.
Various religious thinkers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and other members of the Indian freedom movement, created new forms of political philosophy that 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.
[edit] Religion
Indian religions, a major form of world religions next to the Abrahamic) ones, include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with some 1.4 billion followers.
India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion still plays a central and definitive role in the life of most of its people.
The religion of more than 80.4% of the people is Hinduism. Islam is practiced by around 13.4% of all Indians.[14] Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are 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 also have visible influence.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sastri (1955), p355
- ^ Narasimhacharya (1988), p4-5
- ^ B.L. Rice (1897), p497
- ^ a b Dr. Jytosna Kamat. Purandara Dasa. Kamats Potpourri. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
- ^ Madhusudana Rao CR. Sri Purandara Dasaru. Dvaita Home Page. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
- ^ S. Sowmya, K. N. Shashikiran. History of Music. Srishti's Carnatica Private Limited. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
- ^ Madhusudana Rao CR. Sri Purandara Dasaru. Dvaita Home Page (www.dviata.org). Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
- ^ "South Asian arts: Techniques and Types of Classical Dance"
- ^ Kamath (2003), p282
- ^ Kamath (2003), p283
- ^ Emeneau 1988, p. 5
- ^ Nettl & Bohlman 1991, p. 82
- ^ A Snapshot of Indian Television History. Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
- ^ Religions Muslim (PDF). Registrat General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
[edit] External links
Indian culture :http://richindianculture.blogspot.com/2008/01/narcissists-modern-indian-women.html
- Indian traditions and world culture Essays, debates, multimedia illustrations, etc., in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Romani.
Articles
- "Nothing to Go Back To - The Fate of the Widows of Vrindavan, India" WNN - Women News Network Nov 5, 2007
- Treasure House of India's Art and Culture
- IndianCultureOnline.com - Indian Culture Photos+Detail Information
- Culture Coverage
- An Introduction to Indian Culture
Books
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. [1955] (2002). A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar. New Delhi: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
- Narasimhacharya, R [1988] (1988). History of Kannada Literature. New Delhi, Madras: Asian Educational Services. ISBN ISBN 81-206-0303-6.
- Rice, B.L. [1897] (2001). Mysore Gazatteer Compiled for Government-vol 1. New Delhi, Madras: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0977-8.
- Kamath, Suryanath U. [1980] (2001). A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 809-5179. OCLC 7796041.
- 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. India: A Million Mutinies Now. (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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