Introduction
The human civilisation in India is about 4,500 years older. So, Indian culture is considered to be the oldest in the world. According to the All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP) foundation, ‘Sa Prathama Sanskrati Vishvavara’ i.e. it is the first and the supreme culture in the world. Indian culture is the most enriched as well as the oldest. Christina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College, London, once said, ‘Western societies did not always see the culture of India very favourably’. There was a time when culture and the aspects of human development were considered as the evolutionary processes by early anthropologists. On the basis of this view, the societies, especially of India, African countries and the Far East, which were not following European or Western manners of life or outside of Europe or North America were supposed to be culturally primitive and inferior.
India’s Excellence in Diverse Dimensions
Indians, however, have achieved considerable advancement in the fields of art and architecture with the instances in the Taj Mahal, the Sun Temple, Meenakshi temple; mathematics with the incredible example of the invention of zero; and medicine and hygiene, especially in the branch of Ayurveda. With the passage of time, India has accomplished remarkable development in diverse dimensions and emerged as the rare land of unity in diversity with the second largest population (more than 1.2 billion as per the record of the CIA World Factbook) in the world.
India: Its States and Various Religions
According to the current record of the World Health Organisation (WHO), India consists of twenty-eight states and seven union territories. On the basis of the verdict on the language issue by the Gujarat High Court, 2010, India has no national language but two link languages: Hindi and English. According to the report of The Times of India, ‘Many people speak Hindi in India, but 59 per cent of Indian residents speak something other than Hindi’. Other major languages of India are Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu.
Hinduism and Buddhism which are the third and fourth largest religions, respectively, in the world originated in India. Again, the Handbook of Research on Development and Religion edited by Matthew Clarke and published by Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013 mentions that about 84 per cent of the population world population is identified as Hindu with variations in four principal sects: Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya and Smarta. India, with approximately 13 per cent of Muslim inhabitants, is one of the largest Islamic nations in the world while Sikhs and Christians cover smaller percentage of the total population, and Buddhists and Jains make up the smallest percentage.
Indian cuisine is influenced by most other countries of the world. According to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M University), ‘when the Moghal Empire invaded during the sixteenth century, they left a significant mark on the Indian cuisine’. The large assortment of dishes and its liberal use of herbs and spices are also well-known to the world. India is a land of diverse communities and creeds so cooking styles vary from region to region.
India: Its Diet Tradition
The staples of Indian diets are enriched with Basmati rice, wheat, and pulses with Bengal gram or chana. The spices: Ginger, cardamom, coriander, dried hot peppers, turmeric and cinnamon, etc. also enrich Indian food with curries. Various fruits and vegetables: Tomatoes, tamarinds, cilantro, mint and other herbs are used to prepare chutney i.e. thick condiment and spread. Indian food is, thus, proud of its wide variety.
The non-vegetarian Indians commonly enjoy the dishes of chicken, goat and lamb while vegetarians live on varieties of vegetables and milk products such as ghee, butter, paneer, etc. According to the report of The Guardian, ‘between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of India’s population is vegetarian’. Most of the Indians eat their food with fingers and sometimes with bread used as utensils. Oven-baked flatbread, naan, a leavened, bhatoora, a fried, fluffy flatbread popular in North India and eaten with chickpea curry, etc. are some of the varieties of bread are common in Indian diet.
India: Its Architecture
The Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders in the world. It was built in an artistic combination with the elements from Indian, Persian, Islamic, and Ottoman Turkish architectural styles by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Some of temples with rare architectural flavour are the Brihadeshwara Temple (Tamil Nadu), the Kailashnath Temple (Ellora), the Chennakeshava Temple (Karnataka), the Adi Kumbeswara Temple (Tamil Nadu), and the Golden Temple (Amritsar
Bollywood: India’s Film Industry
Bollywood, the film industry of India, is famous in the world. According to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, India began its journey since 1896 when the Lumière brothers displayed the art of cinema in Mumbai. The films of present India are well-known for their intricate thematic background, dancing and singing.
Art and Culture of India: Its Classical Dance and Music
Even in the domain of dance and music, India has displayed the surprising hallmark as the advanced civilisation challenging the blind belief of the west. According to Contract Law in India by Nilima Bhadbhade, the unique and most enriched dance, music and theatre of India began from more than 2,000 years before and have been continuing till today through innumerable political ups and downs. Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi, and Kathakali are some of the major classical dance traditions themes drawn from mythology and literature with rigid rules of presentation.
Clothing of India
Variety is the spice for enriched life. Indian clothing too has wide variety especially with the silk saris various colour-flavour worn by the women of India while the dhoti, and an unstitched piece of cloth tied around the waist and legs are for men. Men are often seen wearing a kurta, and a loose shirt long up to the knee. Sherwani i.e. a long coat buttoned up to the collar and down to the knees and the Nehru jacket i.e. a shorter version of a sherwani are commonly worn by men in special occasions.
India: Its Significant Days
India as the culturally and socially advanced country with its hoary traditions and customs, also celebrates many important days round the calendar. The Independence Day, the Republic Day, the Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday, Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore and birthdays of many other important national figures who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the land are celebrated with solemnity and pride. Diwali, a fiveday festival of lights symbolising the inner light that protects people from their spiritual darkness, is the largest and mostly observed holiday in India. Moreover, different religions and communities observe their religious festivals and important days throughout the year. The Holi i.e. the festival of colours, the Durga Puja, the Ratha yatra are some of the famous Hindu festivals and the Eid, the Ramjan are some of the Muslim festivals which are celebrated with pomp and fanfare in India.
Conclusion
In a word, India is the land of unity in diversity. The astounding cultural intermingling is seen only in India. The east, west, north, south and central India populated with diverse communities and different language speaking people live and flourish in peace and progress caring a fig to some sudden outbreak of communal riots and violence in different parts of India in different times. India is the land of varied and unique culture and customs since its beginning and has been flourishing with immense varieties and grandeur. India is not only culturally varied, but it is varied also in its climate and landforms. Different parts of India enjoy different climatic and atmospheric conditions. In any respect, the customs and traditions of Indian culture is unique and surprising, and impressive in the world.