The varied and rich
wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture. Common name for wilderness in India is
Jungle which was adopted by the British
colonialists to the English language. The word has been also made famous in
The Jungle Book by
Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as the
Panchatantra and the
Jataka tales.
[17]
In Hinduism, the cow is regarded as a symbol of
ahimsa (non-violence),
mother goddess and bringer of good fortune and wealth.
[18] For this reason, cows are revered in Hindu culture and feeding a cow is seen as an act of worship.
[19]'
[edit] Cuisine
The Food in India is classified into three major categories.
Sattva,
Rajas, and
Tamas. Satva which stand for balance, Rajas stands for passion, and Thamas stands for indulgence. Food is consumed according to the lifestyle of the person. For Eg: A King has to be aggressive to defend his country, he would be taking food which would give much passion and that aggressiveness which is required. When a person tries to lead his life in want of self realisaiton, he would prefer a Satvic food or known as
Sattvic diet, which would help to keep his mind in balance. Thamasic food or known as
Static foods is to be taken only if its required, like consumption of Alcohol. This is the reason why in many Indians try to abstain drinking.
The multiple varieties 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.
India is known for its love for food and
spices, and it plays a role in
everyday life as well as in festivals. Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the
varied demographics of the country. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split into 5 categories —
northern,
southern, eastern, western and north-eastern.
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 colonists. Though the
tandoor originated in
Central Asia, Indian tandoori dishes, such as
chicken tikka made with Indian ingredients, enjoy widespread popularity.
[20]
Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe.
[21] Historically,
Indian Spices and Herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities. The
Spice trade between India and Europe led to the rise and dominance of Arab traders to such an extent that European explorers, such as
Vasco da Gama and
Christopher Columbus, set out to find new trade routes with India leading to the
Age of Discovery.
[22] The popularity of
curry, which originated in India, across Asia has often led to the dish being labeled as the "pan-Asian" dish.
[23]
[edit] Clothing
Traditional men's (
Dhoti) and women's wear (
Sari)
Traditional
clothing in India greatly varies across different parts of the country and is influenced immensely by local culture, geography and climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as
sari for women and
dhoti or
lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as
churidar for women and
kurta-
pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.
In India, a person's social status is perceived to be symbolized by his or her attire. Indian dress etiquette discourages exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes.
[24] Most Indian clothes are made from
cotton which is ideal for the region's hot weather.
[25] Since India's weather is mostly hot and rainy, majority of Indians wear
sandals.
[26]
Worn by women on their forehead, the
bindi is considered to be a highly auspicious mark in Hindu religion.
[27] Traditionally, the red bindi (or
sindoor) was worn only by the married Hindu women, but now it has become a part of women's fashion. Some Indian traditions consider the
bindi to be representative of the
third eye.
[28]
India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of the country's history. Ancient Vedic texts mention clothes made from barks and leaves (known as
phataka). The 11th century BC
Rig-veda mentions dyed and embroidered garments (known as
paridhan and
pesas respectively) and thus highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during the Vedic age.
[29] In 5th century BC, Greek historian
Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of Indian cotton clothes.
[30] By 2nd century AD, muslins manufactured in southern India were imported by the
Roman Empire and silk cloth was one of the major exports of ancient India along with
Indian spices.
[31] Stitched clothing in India was developed before 10th century AD and was further popularized in 15th century by Muslim empires in India.
[31] Draped clothing styles remained popular with India's Hindu population while the Muslims increasingly adopted tailored garments.
[32]
During the
British Raj, India's large clothing and handicrafts industry was left paralyzed so as to make place for British industrial cloth. Consequently, Indian independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi successfully advocated for what he termed as
khadi clothing — light colored hand-woven clothes — so as to decrease reliance of the Indian people on British industrial goods.
[33] The 1980s was marked by a widespread modification to Indian clothing fashions which was characterized by a large-scale growth of fashion schools in India, increasing involvement of women in the fashion industry and changing Indian attitudes towards multiculturalism. These developments played a pivotal role in the fusion of Indian and Western clothing styles.
[34]
[edit] Languages and literature
[edit] History
Time is always referred as Kala Chakra in India. In Ancient India the time was divided in Four yugas. The calendar which most Indians follows goes in accordance to this. There by, measuring the dates of Vedas came in later days.
With its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BC,
[35] the
Rigvedic Sanskrit is one of the oldest attestations of any
Indo-Iranian language, and one of the earliest attested members of the
Indo-European language family, the family which includes English and most European languages.
[36] Sanskrit has had a profound impact on the languages and literature of India.
Hindi, India's most spoken language, is a "Sanskritized register" of the
Khariboli dialect. In addition, all modern
Indo-Aryan languages,
Munda languages and
Dravidian languages, have borrowed many words either directly from Sanskrit (
tatsama words), or indirectly via middle Indo-Aryan languages (
tadbhava words).
[37] Words originating in Sanskrit are estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages,
[38] and the literary forms of (Dravidian)
Telugu,
Malayalam and
Kannada.
[37] Part of the
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the
Bengali language arose from the eastern
Middle Indic languages and its roots are traced to the 5th century BC
Ardhamagadhi language.
[39][40]
Tamil, one of India's major classical languages, descends from
Proto-Dravidian languages which was spoken around the third millennium BC in peninsular India.
Tamil literature has existed for over two thousand years
[41] and the earliest
epigraphic records found date from around the third century
BC.
[42] Another major Dravidian language,
Kannada is attested epigraphically from the mid-1st millennium AD, and literary
Old Kannada flourished in the 9th to 10th century
Rashtrakuta Dynasty. Pre-old Kannada (or
Purava HaleGannada) was the language of
Banavasi in the early Common Era, the
Satavahana and
Kadamba periods and hence has a history of over 2000 years.
[43][44][45][46] The
Ashoka rock edict found at
Brahmagiri (dated to 230 BC) has been suggested to contain a word in identifiable Kannada.
[47]
According to 2001 India census,
Hindi is the most spoken language in India, followed by
Bengali,
Telugu,
Marathi and
Tamil.
[48] In contemporary Indian literature, there are two major literary awards; these are the
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and the
Jnanpith Award. Seven Jnanpith awards each have been awarded in
Kannada, six in
Hindi, five in
Bengali, four in
Malayalam, three each in
Marathi,
Gujarati,
Urdu and
Oriya and two in
Tamil,.
[49]
The
Rāmāyaṇa and the
Mahābhārata are the oldest preserved and well-known epics of India. Versions have been adopted as the epics of Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (
kāṇḍas) and 500
cantos (
sargas),
[50] and tells the story of Rama (an
incarnation of the Hindu preserver-god
Vishnu), whose wife
Sita is abducted by the
demon king of
Lanka,
Ravana. This epic played a pivotal role in establishing the role of
dhárma as a principal ideal guiding force for Hindu way of life.
[51] The earliest parts of the Mahabharata text date to 400 BC
[51] and is estimated to have reached its final form by the early
Gupta period (ca. 4th c. AD).
[52] Other regional variations of these, as well as unrelated epics include the Tamil
Ramavataram, Kannada
Pampa Bharata, Hindi
Ramacharitamanasa, and Malayalam
Adhyathmaramayanam. In addition to these two great Indian epics, there are five major epics in the classical
Tamil language —
Silappatikaram,
Manimekalai,
Civaka-cintamani,
Valayapathi and
Kundalakesi.
[edit] Performing arts
Main article:
Dance in India 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, the
ghoomar of
Rajasthan, the
dandiya and
garba of
Gujarat, the
Yakshagana of Karnataka and
lavani of
Maharashtra and
Dekhnni of Goa. 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
Odisha and the
sattriya of
Assam.
[53][54]
[edit] Drama and theater
Indian drama and theater 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 traditions of the world is the 2,000 year old
Kutiyattam of Kerala. It strictly follows the
Natya Shastra.
[55] Nātyāchārya
Māni Mādhava Chākyār is credited for reviving 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.
[56][57]
Main article:
Music of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple 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
Śrauta sacrifices.
India's classical music tradition is heavily influenced by Hindu texts. It includes two distinct styles:
Carnatic and
Hindustani music.
The earliest account of Indian musical hymns is found in the 1000 BC
Sāmaveda.
[58] It proposed a tonal structure consisting of seven notes, which were named, in descending order, as
Krusht,
Pratham,
Dwitiya,
Tritiya,
Chaturth,
Mandra and
Atiswār. These refer to the notes of a flute, which was the only fixed frequency instrument. Both the
Hindustani classical music and the
Carnatic classical music systems are based on the melodic mode (known as
Rāga), sung to a rhythmic cycle or
tala. These principles were refined in the
nātyaśāstra (200 BC) and the
dattilam (300 AD).
[59]
Purandaradasa is considered the "father of carnatic music" (
Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha).
[60][61][62] He concluded his songs with a salutation to Lord Purandara Vittala and is believed to have composed as many as 475,000 songs in the
Kannada language.
[63] However, only about 1,000 are known today.
[60][64]
Prominent contemporary Indian musical forms included
filmi and
Indipop. Filmi refers to the wide range of music written and performed for mainstream
Indian cinema, primarily
Bollywood, and accounts for more than 70 percent of all music sales in the country.
[65] Indipop is one of the most popular contemporary styles of Indian music which is either a fusion of
Indian folk, classical or
Sufi music with Western musical traditions.
[66]
[edit] Visual arts
[edit] Painting
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of
pre-historic times, the
petroglyphst 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.
Raja Ravi Varma is one the classical painters from medieval India.
Madhubani painting,
Mysore painting,
Rajput painting,
Tanjore painting,
Mughal painting are some notable Genres of Indian Art; while
Nandalal Bose,
M. F. Husain,
S. H. Raza,
Geeta Vadhera,
Jamini Roy and B.Venkatappa
[67] 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.
Jehangir Art Gallery,
Mumbai,
Mysore Palace has on display a few good Indian paintings.
[edit] Sculpture
The 5th century Buddhist
vishvakarma cave at
Ellora, Maharashtra.
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 contributed 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 BC) 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
Mauryan 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.
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.
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
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus are notable examples.
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.
Contemporary Indian architecture is more cosmopolitan. Cities are extremely compact and densely populated. Mumbai's
Nariman Point is famous for its
Art Deco buildings. Recent creations such as the
Lotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of India like
Chandigarh, are notable.
[edit] Sports and Martial arts
Field Hockey is the national Sport in India, and the
India national field hockey team won the 1975
Men's Hockey World Cup and 8
gold, 1
silver and 2
bronze medals at the Olympic games.
Cricket is the most popular Sport in India. The
India national cricket team won the
1983 Cricket World Cup and the
2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the
2002 ICC Champions Trophy with
Sri Lanka. Domestic competitions include the
Ranji Trophy, the
Duleep Trophy, the
Deodhar Trophy, the
Irani Trophy and the
Challenger Series. In addition,
BCCI conducts the
Indian Premier League, a
Twenty20 competition.
India is the host of
2010 Commonwealth Games, played in
New Delhi. It hosted a spectacular display of Indian culture and heritage to the entire world during the opening ceremony of the games.
Chess is commonly believed to have originated in northwestern India during the
Gupta empire,
[70][71][72][73] where its early form in the 6th century was known as
chaturanga. Other games which originated in India and continue to remain popular in wide parts of northern India include
Kabaddi,
Gilli-danda, and
Kho kho. Traditional southern Indian games include
Snake boat race and
Kuttiyum kolum.
[edit] Indian martial arts
Kalarippayattu, one of the oldest and most prominent forms of Indian martial arts.
One of the best known forms of ancient Indian martial arts is the
Kalarippayattu from Kerala. This ancient fighting style originated in southern India in 12th century BC and is regarded as one of the oldest surviving martial arts.
[74] In this form martial arts, various stages of physical training include
ayurvedic massage with sesame oil to impart suppleness to the body (
uzichil); a series of sharp body movements so as to gain control over various parts of the body (
miapayattu); and, complex sword fighting techniques (
paliyankam).
[75] Silambam, which was developed around 200 AD, traces its roots to the
Sangam period in southern India.
[76] Silambam is unique among Indian martial arts because it uses complex footwork techniques (
kaaladi), including a variety of spinning styles. A bamboo staff is used as the main weapon.
[76] The ancient Tamil
Sangam literature mentions that between 400 BC and 600 AD, soldiers from southern India received special martial arts training which revolved primarily around the use of spear (
vel), sword (
val) and shield (
kedaham).
[77]
In northern India, the
musti yuddha evolved in 1100 AD and focussed on mental, physical and spiritual training.
[78] In addition, the
Dhanur Veda tradition was an influential fighting arts style which considered the bow and the arrow to be the supreme weapons. The
Dhanur Veda was first described in the 5th century BC
Viṣṇu Purāṇa[74] and is also mentioned in both of the major ancient Indian epics, the
Rāmāyaṇa and
Mahābhārata. A distinctive factor of Indian martial arts is the heavy emphasis laid on meditation (
dhyāna) as a tool to remove fear, doubt and anxiety.
[79]
Indian martial arts techniques have had a profound impact on other martial arts styles across Asia. The 3rd century BC
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali taught how to meditate single-mindedly on points located inside one's body, which was later used in martial arts, while various
mudra finger movements were taught in
Yogacara Buddhism. These elements of
yoga, as well as finger movements in the
nata dances, were later incorporated into various martial arts.
[80] According to some historical accounts, Indian Buddhist monk
Bodhidharma was one of the main founders of the
Shaolin Kungfu.
[81]
[edit] Popular media
[edit] Television
Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for educational telecasts.
[82] 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 lesser known actors have found success in
Bollywood. Indian TV now has many of the same channels as Western TV, including stations such as
Cartoon Network,
Nickelodeon,
HBO,
FX, and
MTV India.
[edit] Cinema
Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular
Mumbai-based
film industry in India. Bollywood and the other major cinematic hubs (in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi and 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.
India has produced many critically acclaimed cinema-makers like K.Vishwanath, Bapu ,Jagdaman Grewal,
Satyajit Ray,
Ritwik Ghatak,
Guru Dutt,
K. Vishwanath,
Adoor Gopalakrishnan,
Girish Kasaravalli,
Shekhar Kapoor,
Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
Shankar Nag,
Girish Karnad,
G. V. Iyer,etc. (See
Indian film directors). With the opening up of the economy in the recent years and consequent exposure to world cinema, audience tastes have been changing. In addition, multiplexes have mushroomed in most cities, changing the revenue patterns.
