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Culture of IndiaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The culture of India is the way of life of the people of India. India's languages, religions, dance, music,architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country. The Indian culture, often labeled asan amalgamation of several cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced by a history

that is several millennia old.[1][2] Many elements of India's diverse cultures, such as Indian religions, yoga, andIndian cuisine, have had a profound impact across the world.

Contents

1 Religions

2 Perceptions of Indian culture

3 Family structure and marriage

3.1 Arranged marriage

3.2 Wedding rituals

4 Greetings

5 Festivals

6 Animals

7 Cuisine

8 Clothing

9 Languages and literature

9.1 History

9.2 Epics

10 Performing arts

10.1 Dance

10.2 Drama and theatre

10.3 Music

11 Visual arts

11.1 Painting

11.2 Sculpture

11.3 Architecture

12 Sports and martial arts

12.1 Sports

12.2 Indian martial arts

13 Popular media

13.1 Television

13.2 Cinema

14 See also

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Aarti ritual in Hindu worship

Close-up of a statue

depicting Maitreya at the

Thikse Monastery in Ladakh,

India. Indian religions, such

as Hinduism and Buddhism,

are indigenous to India.[3]

15 References

16 Further reading

17 External links

Religions

India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism,

collectively known as Indian religions.[4] Indian religions are a majorform of world religions along with Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduismand Buddhism are the world's third and fourth-largest religions

respectively, with over 2 billion followers altogether,[5][6][7] and

possibly as many as 2.5 or 2.6 billion followers.[5][8]

India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, withsome of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion stillplays a central and definitive role in the life of many of its people.

According to a 2001 census of India, the religion of 80% of thepeople is Hinduism. Islam is practised by around 13% of all

Indians.[9] The country had over 23 million Christians, over 19 million

Sikhs, about 8 million Buddhists and about 4 million Jains.[10]

Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are influential not only in India butacross the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and the Bahá'í Faithare also influential but their numbers are smaller. Atheism and agnostics alsohave visible influence in India, along with a self-ascribed tolerance to otherpeople.

The Hindu religion has many schools, each with their own unique views.[11]

For example, according to Yogavasistha, a spiritual text of the Advaita schoolof Hindu religion, the values of the liberated (Hindi: जीव�मिु�त), self-

actualised human being, may be summarised as follows:[12][13][14] "Pleasuresdo not delight him; pains do not distress. Although engaged in worldly actions,he has no attachment to any object. He is busy outwardly, yet calm inwardly.He feels free from restrictions of scriptures, customs, age, caste or creed. Heis happy, but his happiness does not depend on anything else. He does notfeel needy, proud, agitated, troubled, depressed or elated. He is full ofcompassion and forgiveness even to those who mean him harm. He does theright thing, regardless of the pressures. He is patient, perseverant, and withoutany impurity in his heart. He is free of delusions, he does not crave foranything. His sense of freedom comes from his spirit of inquiry. The fruits of his inquiry are his strength, intellect,efficiency and punctuality. He keeps company of wise and enlightened persons. He is content."

There is significant historical discourse in India on the notion, relevance, and the existence and non-existence of

God. Dharmakirti, for example, in the 7th century wrote in Pramanavarttikam:[15][16]

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वदे �ामा�य ंक�य �चत ्कत�ृवादः �नान ेधम��छा जा�तवादाव लपेः|सतंापारभंः पापहानाय च�ेत �व�त��ाना ंप�च �लङगा�न जा�य|े|

Believing that the Veda are standard (holy or divine), believing in a Creator for the world,Bathing in holy waters for gaining punya, having pride (vanity) about one's job function,Performing penance to absolve sins,Are the five symptoms of having lost one's sanity.

Perceptions of Indian culture

India's diversity has inspired many writers to pen their perceptions of the country's culture. These writings paint acomplex and often conflicting picture of the culture of India.

According to industry consultant Eugene M. Makar, for example, traditional Indian culture is defined by arelatively strict social hierarchy. He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and

places in society.[17] This is reinforced, Makar notes, by the way many believe gods and spirits have an integraland functional role in determining their life. Several differences such as religion divide the culture. However, a farmore powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and polluting occupations. Strictsocial taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years, claims Makar. In recent years, particularly incities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even disappeared. He writes important family relationsextend as far as gotra, the mainly patrilinear lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth. In rural areas &sometimes in urban areas as well, it is common that three or four generations of the family live under the same

roof. The patriarch often resolves family issues.[17]

Others have a different perception of Indian culture. According to an interview with C.K. Prahalad by DesDearlove, author of many best selling business books, modern India is a country of very diverse cultures withmany languages, religions and traditions. Children begin by coping and learning to accept and assimilate in thisdiversity. Prahalad - who was born in India and grew up there - claimed, in the interview, that Indians, likeeveryone else in the world, want to be treated as unique, as individuals, want to express themselves and seek

innovation.[18] In another report, Nancy Lockwood of Society for Human Resource Management, the world'slargest human resources association with members in 140 countries, writes that in the past two decades or so,social change in India is in dramatic contrast to the expectations from traditional Indian culture. These changeshave led to Indian families giving education opportunities to girls, accepting women working outside home,pursuing a career, and opening the possibility for women to attain managerial roles in corporate India.Lockwood claims that change is slow, yet the scale of cultural change can be sensed from the fact that of India's397 million workers, 124 million are now women. The issues in India with women empowerment are similar to

those elsewhere in the world.[19]

According to Amartya Sen, the India born Nobel Laureate in Economics, the culture of modern India is acomplex blend of its historical traditions, influences from the effects of colonialism over centuries and currentWestern culture - both collaterally and dialectically. Sen observes that external images of India in the West often

tend to emphasise the difference - real or imagined - between India and the West.[20] There is a considerableinclination in the Western countries to distance and highlight the differences in Indian culture from the mainstreamof Western traditions, rather than discover and show similarities. Western writers and media usually misses, inimportant ways, crucial aspects of Indian culture and traditions. The deep-seated heterogeneity of Indiantraditions, in different parts of India, is neglected in these homogenised description of India. The perceptions ofIndian culture, by those who weren't born and raised in India, tend to be one of at least three categories, writesSen:

Exoticist approach: it concentrates on the wondrous aspects of the culture of India. The focus of this

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approach of understanding Indian culture is to present the different, the strange and as Hegel put it, "a

country that has existed for millennia in the imaginations of the Europeans."

Magisterial approach: it assumes a sense of superiority and guardianship necessary to deal with India, a

country that James Mill's imperialist history thought of as grotesquely primitive culture. While great many

British observers did not agree with such views of India, and some non-British ones did, it is an approach

that contributes to some confusion about the culture of India.

Curatorial approach: it attempts to observe, classify and record the diversity of Indian culture in different

parts of India. The curators do not look only for the strange, are not weighed by political priorities, and

tend to be more free from stereotypes. The curatorial approach, nevertheless, have an inclination to see

Indian culture as more special and extraordinarily interesting than it actually may be.

The curatorial approach, one inspired by systematic curiosity for the cultural diversity of India within India, ismostly absent.

Susan Bayly, in her book, observes that there is considerable dispute in India and Orientalist scholars onperceived Indian culture. She acknowledges that many dispute claims of pervasiveness of caste and strict socialhierarchy in modern India. Bayly notes that much of the Indian subcontinent was populated by people for whom

the formal distinctions of caste and strict social hierarchies were of only limited importance in their lifestyles.[21]

According to Rosser, an American sociologist, Americans of South Asian origins feel the Western perception ofthe culture of India has numerous stereotypes. Rosser notes that the discourse in much of the United Statesabout the culture of India is rarely devoted to independent India. People quickly make sweeping and flawedmetaphysical assumptions about its religion and culture, but are far more circumspect when evaluating civilsociety and political culture in modern India. It is as if the value of South Asia resides only in its ancientcontributions to human knowledge whereas its pathetic attempts to modernise or develop are to be winked at

and patronised.[22] Rosser conducted numerous interviews and summarised the comments. The study reports astark contrast between Western perceptions of the culture of India, versus the direct experience of theinterviewed people. For example:

"The presentation of South Asians is a standard pedagogic approach which runs quickly fromthe "Cradle of Civilisation"—contrasting the Indus Valley with Egypt and Mesopotamia—onpast the Aryans, who were somehow our ancestors— to the poverty stricken, superstitious,polytheistic, caste ridden Hindu way of life ... and then somehow magically culminates with aeulogy of Mahatma Gandhi. A typical textbook trope presents the standard Ancient IndiaMeets the Age of Expansion Approach with a colour photo of the Taj Mahal. There may be aside bar on ahimsa or a chart of connecting circles graphically explaining samsara andreincarnation, or illustrations of the four stages of life or the Four Noble Truths. Amid thedearth of real information there may be found an entire page dedicated to a deity such asIndra or Varuna, who admittedly are rather obscure vis-à-vis the beliefs of most modernHindus."

— A South Asian in America[22]

Family structure and marriage

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A bride during a traditional Hindu

wedding ceremony in Punjab.

A bride in India.

For generations, India has had a prevailing tradition of the joint familysystem. It is a system under which extended members of a family –parents, children, the children's spouses and their offspring, etc. – livetogether. Usually, the oldest male member is the head in the jointIndian family system. He makes all important decisions and rules, and

other family members abide by them. [23]

In a 1966 study, Orenstein and Micklin analysed India's populationdata and family structure. Their studies suggest that Indian householdsizes had remained similar over the 1911 to 1951 period. Thereafter,with urbanisation and economic development, India has witnessed abreak up of traditional joint family into more nuclear-like

families.[24][25] Sinha, in his book, after summarising the numerous sociological studies done on Indian family,notes that over the last 60 years, the cultural trend in most parts of India has been an accelerated change fromjoint family to nuclear families, much like population trends in other parts of the world. The traditional large jointfamily in India, in the 1990s, accounted for a small percent of Indian households, and on average had lower percapita household income. He finds that joint family still persists in some areas and in certain conditions, in part

due to cultural traditions and in part due to practical factors.[24] Youth in lower socio-economic classes aremore inclined to spend time with their families than their peers due to differing ideologies in rural and urban

parenting.[26]

Arranged marriage

For centuries, arranged marriages have been the tradition in Indiansociety. Even today, the majority of Indians have their marriagesplanned by their parents and other respected family-members. In thepast, the age of marriage was young, especially in Rajasthan, but thisis rising with modernisation and there are now laws which govern the

age of marriage.[27]

In most marriages the bride's family provide a dowry to thebridegroom. Traditionally, the dowry was considered a woman'sshare of the family wealth, since a daughter had no legal claim on hernatal family's real estate. It also typically included portable valuablessuch as jewellery and household goods that a bride could control

throughout her life.[28] Historically, in most families the inheritance of family estates passed down the male line.

Since 1956, Indian laws treat males and females as equal in matters of inheritance without a legal will.[29] Indiansare increasingly using a legal will for inheritance and property succession, with about 20 percent using a legal will

by 2004.[30]

In India, the divorce rate is low — 1% compared with about 40% in the United States.[31][32] These statisticsdo not reflect a complete picture, though. There is a dearth of scientific surveys or studies on Indian marriageswhere the perspectives of both husbands and wives were solicited in-depth. Sample surveys suggest the issueswith marriages in India are similar to trends observed elsewhere in the world. The divorce rates are rising in

India. Urban divorce rates are much higher. Women initiate about 80 percent of divorces in India.[33]

"Opinion is divided over what the phenomenon means: for traditionalists the rising numbers portend the

breakdown of society while, for some modernists, they speak of a healthy new empowerment for

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A Hindu wedding ritual in progress.

The bride and the groom are seated

together, receiving instructions from

the priest. The sacred square fire

container (yajna kund) is behind the

priest.

women."[34]

Recent studies suggest that Indian culture is trending away from traditional arranged marriages. Banerjee et al.surveyed 41,554 households across 33 states and union territories in India in 2005. They find that the marriage

trends in India are similar to trends observed over last 40 years in China, Japan and other nations.[35] The studyfound that fewer marriages are purely arranged without consent and that the majority of surveyed Indianmarriages are arranged with consent. The percentage of self-arranged marriages (called love marriages in India)were also increasing, particularly in the urban parts of India. A 2014 article reported that the proportion of “love

marriages” has soared in India in the most recent decade, still some 70% of unions are arranged.[36]

Wedding rituals

Weddings are festive occasions in India with extensive decorations,colors, music, dance, costumes and rituals that depend on the religion

of the bride and the groom, as well as their preferences.[37] The

nation celebrates about 10 million weddings per year,[38] of whichover 80% are Hindu weddings.

While there are many festival-related rituals in Hinduism, vivaha(wedding) is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu

undertakes in his or her life.[39][40] Typical Hindu families spendsignificant effort and financial resources to prepare and celebrateweddings. The rituals and process of a Hindu wedding varydepending on region of India, local adaptations, resources of thefamily and preferences of the bride and the groom. Nevertheless,there are a few key rituals common in Hindu weddings - Kanyadaan,Panigrahana, and Saptapadi; these are respectively, gifting away ofdaughter by the father, voluntarily holding hand near the fire to signifyimpending union, and taking seven steps before fire with each step including a set of mutual vows. After the

seventh step and vows of Saptapadi, the couple is legally husband and wife.[40][41][42] Sikhs get marriedthrough a ceremony called Anand Karaj. The couple walk around the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib fourtimes. Indian Muslims celebrate a traditional Islamic wedding following customs similar to those practiced in theMiddle East. The rituals include Nikah, payment of financial dower called Mahr by the groom to the bride,

signing of marriage contract, and a reception.[43] Indian Christian weddings follow customs similar to thosepracticed in the Christian countries in the West.

Greetings

Namaste (Hindi), Juhar/Namaskar in Odia, Namaskar, Swagatam (Marathi) or Namaskara (Kannada) orNamaskaram (Telugu, Malayalam), Vanakkam (Tamil),Nomoshkaar (Bengali), Nomoskar (Assamese) is acommon spoken greeting or salutation, though becoming considered old-fashioned by some. Namaskar isconsidered a slightly more formal version than Namaste but both express deep respect. It is commonly used inIndia and Nepal by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and many continue to use this outside the (Indiansubcontinent). In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbalcommunication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made usually wordlessly upon departure. Takenliterally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namah): to bow, obeisance, reverentialsalutation, and respect, and (te): "to you". As explained by an Indian scholar, in literal terms Namaste refers to'Godliness in me bows to Godliness in you' or 'Divinity in me, salutes divinity in you'. In most Indian families,

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Pressing hands together with a smile

to greet Namaste - a common cultural

practice in India.

With India's cultural diversity, the

country has more festivals than there

are days in a year. With little lamps

and lot of care, Karthigai festival

celebrates the bond between sisters

and brothers in south India. In other

parts of India, Bhaiya-Dhuj and

Raakhi is celebrated. Sisters wish

their brothers happiness and feed

them sweets, while brothers give gifts

and promise to protect their sisters.

Above children enjoying Holi, the

"festival of colours". It is a major

Indian festival celebrated every

spring. In autumn, one of the major

festivals is Diwali, the festival of

lights.

A tug of war, at Pushkar Fair in

Rajasthan.

younger men and women are taught to seek the blessing of theirelders by reverentially bowing to their elders. This custom is known asPranāma.

Other greetings include "Jai Jagannath" in Oriya Language, "AmiAschi" (in Bengali),"Jai Shri Krishna" , "Ram Ram" , and Sat ShriAkal (Punjabi, used by followers of Sikhism), Jai Jinendra, acommon greeting used across the Jain community,"Jai Bhim" used byBuddhist Converts in Maharashtra after B. R. Ambedkar and "NamaShivaya" , "Jai ambe", "Jai Sri Ram" etc.

These traditional forms of greeting are no longer used in the world ofbusiness and in India's urban environment. The handshake is thecommon form of greeting between men and men and also between women and women; the handshake is oftenlong and soft. Men should greet Indian women with a slight nod unless the woman offers her hand for a short

shake.[44]

Festivals

India, being a multi-culturaland multi-religious society,celebrates holidays andfestivals of various religions.The three national holidaysin India, the IndependenceDay, the Republic Day andthe Gandhi Jayanti, arecelebrated with zeal andenthusiasm across India. Inaddition, many Indian statesand regions have localfestivals depending onprevalent religious andlinguistic demographics.Popular religious festivalsinclude the Hindu festivalsof Navratri, Diwali, MahaShivratri, GaneshChaturthi, Durga puja,Holi, Ratha-Yatra, Ugadi,

Rakshabandhan, and Dussehra. Several harvest festivals such asSankranthi, Pongal, Raja sankaranti swinging festival, andOnam, "Nuakhai" are also fairly popular.

Indian New year festival are celebrated in different part of India withunique style in different times. Ugadi, Bihu, Gudhi Padwa, Puthandu,Vishu and Vishuva Sankranti are the New years festival of differentpart of India.

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Cows depicted in the

decorated gopuram of

the Kapaleeshwarar

temple in Chennai.

Certain festivals in India are celebrated by multiple religions. Notable examples include Diwali, which iscelebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, and Buddh Purnima, celebrated by Buddhists. Sikh Festivals, such asGuru Nanak Jayanti, Baisakhi are celebrated with full fanfare by Sikhs and Hindu. Adding colours to theculture of India, the Dree Festival is one of the tribal festivals of India celebrated by the Apatanis of the Zirovalley of Arunachal Pradesh, which is the easternmost state of India.

Islam in India is the second largest religion with over 135 million Muslims-(followers of Islam), The Islamicfestivals which are observed and are declared public holiday in India are; Eid ul Fitr, Eid ul Adha-(Bakr Eid),

Milad un Nabi, Muharram and Shab-e-Barat.[45] Some of the Indian states have declared regional holiday's forthe particular regional popular festivals; such as Arba'een, Jumu'ah-tul-Wida and Shab-e-Qadar.

Christianity is India's third largest religion. With over 23 million Christians, of which 17 million are RomanCatholics, India is home to many Christian festivals. The country celebrates Christmas and Good Friday as

public holidays.[45]

Regional fairs are also common and festive in India. For example, Pushkar fair is one of the world's largest

markets and Sonepur mela is the largest livestock fair in Asia.[46]

Animals

The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region'spopular culture. Common name for wilderness in India is Jungle which was adoptedby the British colonialists to the English language. The word has been also madefamous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subjectof numerous other tales and fables such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka

tales.[47]

In Hinduism, the cow is regarded as a symbol of ahimsa (non-violence), mother

goddess and bringer of good fortune and wealth.[48] For this reason, cows are

revered in Hindu culture and feeding a cow is seen as an act of worship.[49]

As of January 2012, cow remains a divisive topic in India. Several states of Indiahave passed laws to protect cows, while many states have no restrictions on theproduction and consumption of beef. Some groups oppose the butchering of cows,while other Indian groups are vehement that what kind of meat one eats ought to bea matter of personal choice in a democracy. Madhya Pradesh enacted a law inJanuary 2012, namely the Gau-Vansh Vadh Pratishedh (Sanshodhan) Act, which makes cow slaughter aserious offence. Gujarat, a western state of India, has the Animal Preservation Act, enacted in October 2011,that prohibits killing of cows along with buying, selling and transport of beef. In contrast, Odisha and AndhraPradesh allow butchering of cattle with a fit-for-slaughter certificate. In the states of West Bengal and Kerala,consumption of beef is not deemed an offence. Contrary to stereotypes, a sizeable number of Hindus eat beef,and many argue that their scriptures, such as vedic texts, do not prohibit its consumption. In southern Indianstate Kerala, for instance, beef accounts for nearly half of all meat consumed by all communities, includingHindus. Sociologists theorise that the widespread consumption of cow meat in India is because it is a farcheaper source of animal protein for the poor than lamb or chicken, which retail at double the price. For thesereasons, India's beef consumption post-independence in 1947 has witnessed a much faster growth than anyother kind of meat; currently, India is one of the five largest producer and consumer of cattle livestock meat inthe world. While states such as Madhya Pradesh are passing local laws to prevent cruelty to cows, otherIndians are arguing "If the real objective is to prevent cruelty to animals, then why single out the cow when

hundreds of other animals are maltreated?"[50][51][52]

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Indian cuisine is diverse, ranging

from very spicy to very mild,

varying with seasons in each

region. These reflect the local

agriculture, regional climate,

culinary innovations and cultural

diversity. Food in India is

sometimes served in thali - a plate

with rice, bread and a selection of

sides. Above are thali samples.

Nimmatnama-i Nasiruddin-Shahi

(Book of Recipes), written about

1500 C.E, documents the fine art of

making Kheer, a milk based dessert of

India: Select the cows carefully; to

get quality milk, pay attention to what

the cows eat; feed them sugar canes;

use this milk to make the best Kheer.

Kheer is a traditional Indian sweet

dish.

Cuisine

Food is an integral part ofevery human culture. Changnotes that the importance offood in understanding humanculture lies in its infinitevariability - a variability that isnot essential for speciessurvival. For survival needs,people everywhere could eatthe same and some simple

food.[53] But human cultures,over the ages, experiment,innovate and developsophisticated cuisines. Cuisinesbecome more than a source ofnutrients, they reflect humanknowledge, culture, art andexpression of love.

Indian food is as diverse asIndia. Indian cuisines usenumerous ingredients, deploy awide range of foodpreparation styles, cookingtechniques and culinarypresentation. From salads tosauces, from vegetarian tomeat, from spices to sensuous,from breads to desserts,Indian cuisine is invariably

complex. Harold McGee, a favourite of many Michelin-starred chefs,writes "for sheer inventiveness with milk itself as the primary ingredient,

no country on earth can match India."[54]

"I travel to India at least three to four times a year. It's alwaysinspirational. There is so much to learn from India becauseeach and every state is a country by itself and each has itsown cuisine. There are lots of things to learn about thedifferent cuisines - it just amazes me. I keep my mind openand like to explore different places and pick up differentinfluences as I go along. I don't actually think that there is asingle state in India that I haven't visited. ... Indian food is acosmopolitan cuisine that has so many ingredients. I don'tthink any cuisine in the world has got so many influences theway that Indian food has. It is a very rich cuisine and is veryvaried. Every region in the world has their own sense of howIndian food should be perceived. "

— Atul Kochhar, The first Indian to receive two Michelin

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Some Indian desserts from hundreds

of varieties. In certain parts of India,

these are called mithai or sweets.

Sugar and desserts have a long

history in India: by about 500 BCE,

people in India had developed the

technology to produce sugar crystals.

In the local language, these crystals

were called khanda (ख�ड), which is

the source of the word candy.[57]

— Atul Kochhar, The first Indian to receive two Michelin

stars[55]

"... it takes me back to the first Christmas I can remember, when the grandmother I hadn't yetmet, who was Indian and lived in England, sent me a box. For me it still carries the taste ofstrangeness and confusion and wonder."

— Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking[56]

According to Sanjeev Kapoor, a member of Singapore Airlines'International Culinary Panel, Indian food has long been an expressionof world cuisine. Kapoor claims, "if you looked back in India's historyand study the food that our ancestors ate, you will notice how muchattention was paid to the planning and cooking of a meal. Great

thought was given to the texture and taste of each dish."[58] One suchhistorical record is Mānasollāsa, (Sanskrit: मानसो�लास, The Delightof Mind), written in the 12th century. The book describes the need tochange cuisine and food with seasons, various methods of cooking,the best blend of flavours, the feel of various foods, planning and style

of dining amongst other things.[59]

India is known for its love for food and spices. Indian cuisine variesfrom region to region, reflecting the local produce, cultural diversity,and varied demographics of the country. Generally, Indian cuisine canbe split into five categories - northern, southern, eastern, western, andnorth-eastern. The diversity of Indian cuisine is characterised bydiffering use of many spices and herbs, a wide assortment of recipesand cooking techniques. Though a significant portion of Indian food isvegetarian, many traditional Indian dishes also include chicken, goat,beef, buffalo, lamb, fish, and other meats. Fish-based cuisines are common in eastern states of India, particularly

West Bengal.[60]

Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge. Varied uses of spices are an integral part of certain foodpreparations, and are used to enhance the flavour of a dish and create unique flavours and aromas. Cuisineacross India has also been influenced by various cultural groups that entered India throughout history, such asthe Persians, Mughals, and European colonists.

Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe.[61] In most Indian restaurants outside India,the menu does not do justice to the enormous variety of Indian cuisine available - the most common cuisineserved on the menu would be Punjabi cuisine (chicken tikka masala is a very popular dish in the UnitedKingdom). There do exist some restaurants serving cuisines from other regions of India, although these are fewand far between. Historically, Indian spices and herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities. Thespice trade between India and Europe led to the rise and dominance of Arab traders to such an extent thatEuropean explorers, such as Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, set out to find new trade routes with

India leading to the Age of Discovery.[62] The popularity of curry, which originated in India, across Asia has

often led to the dish being labeled as the "pan-Asian" dish.[63]

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Punjabi woman dressed

traditionally for 'Teej'

festival.

Illustration of different styles of

Sari & clothing worn by women

in India.

Regional Indian cuisine continues to evolve. A fusion of East Asian and Western cooking methods with

traditional cuisines, along with regional adaptations of fast food are prominent in major Indian cities.[64]

Clothing

Traditional clothing in India greatlyvaries across different parts of thecountry and is influenced by localculture, geography, climate andrural/urban settings. Popular styles ofdress include draped garments such assari for women and dhoti or lungi orpanche (in Kannada) for men. Stitchedclothes are also popular such aschuridar or salwar-kameez forwomen, with dupatta (long scarf)thrown over shoulder completing theoutfit. Salwar is often loose fitting, while

churidar is a tighter cut.[65] For men,stitched versions include kurta-pyjamaand European-style trousers and shirtsfor men. In urban centres, people canoften be seen in jeans, trousers, shirts,

suits, kurtas and variety of other fashions.

In public and religious places, Indian dress etiquette discourages

exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes.[66] Most Indianclothes are made from cotton which is ideal for the region's hot

weather.[67] Since India's weather is mostly hot and rainy, majority of

Indians wear sandals.[68]

Indian women perfect their sense of charm and fashion with make up and ornaments. Bindi, mehendi, earrings,bangles and other jewelry are common. On special occasions, such as marriage ceremonies and festivals,women may wear cheerful colours with various ornaments made with gold, silver or other regional stones andgems.

Bindi is often an essential part of a Hindu woman's make up. Worn on their forehead, some consider the bindias an auspicious mark. Traditionally, the red bindi was worn only by married Hindu women, and coloured bindiwas worn by single women, but now all colours and glitter has become a part of women's fashion. Some womenwear sindoor - a traditional red or orange-red powder (vermilion) in the parting of their hair (locally calledmang). Sindoor is the traditional mark of a married woman for Hindus. Single Hindu women do not wearsindoor; neither do over 100 million Indian women from religions other than Hindu and agnostics/atheists who

may be married.[65]

India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of the country's history. The 11th-century BCERig-veda mentions dyed and embroidered garments (known as paridhan and pesas respectively) and thus

highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during this period.[69] In 5th

century BCE, Greek historian Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of Indian cotton clothes.[70] Bythe 2nd century AD, muslins manufactured in southern India were imported by the Roman Empire and silk cloth

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Language families in India and its

neighbouring countries. India has

22 official languages – 15 of

which are Indo-European. The

2001 census of India found 122

first languages in active use. The

second map shows the distribution

of the Indo-European languages

throughout the world.

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript

in Devanagari, early 19th century.

After a scribal benediction

("śrīgaṇéśāyanamaḥ ;;

Aum(3) ;;"), the first line has the

opening words of RV.1.1.1

(agniṃ ; iḷe ; puraḥ-hitaṃ ;

yajñasya ; devaṃ ; ṛtvijaṃ). The

Vedic accent is marked by

underscores and vertical

overscores in red.

was one of the major exports of ancient India along with Indian spices.[71] Stitched clothing in India wasdeveloped before the 10th century CE and was further popularised in the 15th century by Muslim empires in

India.[71] Draped clothing styles remained popular with India's Hindu population while the Muslims increasingly

adopted tailored garments.[72]

During the British Raj, India's large clothing and handicrafts industry was left paralysed so as to make place forBritish industrial cloth. Consequently, Indian independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi successfullyadvocated for what he termed as khadi clothing — light coloured hand-woven clothes — so as to decrease

the reliance of the Indian people on British industrial goods.[73] The 1980s were marked by a widespreadmodification to Indian clothing fashions which was characterised by a large-scale growth of fashion schools inIndia, 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.[74]

Languages and literature

History

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Literary records suggest India had

interacted in languages of other

ancient civilisations. This

inscription is from Indian emperor

Ashoka, carved in stone about 250

BCE, found in Afghanistan.

Inscriptions are in Greek and

Aramaic, with ideas of non-

violence against men and all living

beings, as the doctrine of Eusebeia

- spiritual maturity.

Bangle

Numerous words from India entered

English vocabulary during the British

colonial era.[75][76] Examples:

bandana, bangles, bungalow and

shampoo.

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of awonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, morecopious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined thaneither, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both inthe roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than couldpossibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed,that no philologer could examine them all three, withoutbelieving them to have sprung from some common source,which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason,though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both theGothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very differentidiom, had the same origin with the Sanskrit ...

— Sir William Jones, 1786[77]

The Rigvedic Sanskrit is one of the oldest attestations of any Indo-Aryan language, and one of the earliestattested members of the Indo-European language family. The discovery of Sanskrit by early European explorersof India led to the development of comparative Philology. The scholars of the 18th century were struck by thefar reaching similarity of Sanskrit, both in grammar and vocabulary, to the classical languages of Europe.Intensive scientific studies that followed have established that Sanskrit and many Indian derivative languagesbelong to the family which includes English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Celtic, Greek, Baltic, Armenian,

Persian, Tocharian and other Indo-European languages.[78]

The evolution of language within India may be distinguished over three periods: old, middle and modern Indo-Aryan. The classical form of old Indo-Aryan was sanskrit meaning polished, cultivated and correct, indistinction to Prakrit - the practical language of the migrating masses evolving without concern to properpronunciation or grammar, the structure of language changing as those masses mingled, settled new lands andadopted words from people of other native languages. Prakrita became middle Indo-Aryan leading to Pali (thelanguage of early Buddhists and Ashoka era in 200-300 BCE), Prakrit (the language of Jain philosophers) andApabhramsa (the language blend at the final stage of middle Indo-Aryan). It is Apabhramsa, scholars

claim,[78] that flowered into Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and many other languages now in use in

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India's north, east and west. All of these Indian languages have roots and structure similar to Sanskrit, to eachother and to other Indo-European languages. Thus we have in India three thousand years of continuous linguistichistory recorded and preserved in literary documents. This enables scholars to follow language evolution andobserve how, by changes hardly noticeable from generation to generation, an original language alters into

descendant languages that are now barely recognisable as the same.[78]

Sanskrit has had a profound impact on the languages and literature of India. Hindi, India's most spokenlanguage, is a "Sanskritised 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).[79] Words originating in Sanskrit are

estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages,[80] and theliterary forms of (Dravidian) Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Tamil, although to a slightly smaller extent, has

also been significantly influenced by Sanskrit.[79] Part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the Bengali languagearose from the eastern Middle Indic languages and its roots are traced to the 5th-century BCE Ardhamagadhi

language.[81][82]

Hindi is mutually intelligible with Urdu, both languages being standardised registers of Hindustani. Urdu isgenerally associated with South Asian Muslims. The main difference between the two is that Hindi is generallywritten in the Devanagari script, whilst Urdu is written in Nastaliq, but, when spoken colloquially, both aremutually intelligible. Mutual intelligibility decreases, however, in specialised contexts where Urdu has borrowedwords from Persian and Arabic, whilst Hindi has done so from Sanskrit and English.

Tamil, one of India's major classical language, descends from Proto-Dravidian languages spoken around thethird millennium BCE in peninsular India. The earliest inscriptions of Tamil have been found on pottery dating

back to 500 BC. Tamil literature has existed for over two thousand years[83] and the earliest epigraphic records

found date from around the 3rd century BCE.[84]

Telugu, one of India's major classical language, descends from South-Central Dravidian language spokenaround the third millennium BCE in all over south India. Early inscriptions date from 620 AD and literary textsfrom the 11th century, written in a Telugu script adapted from the Bhattiprolu script of the early inscriptions.

Another major Classical Dravidian language, Kannada is attested epigraphically from the mid-1st millenniumAD, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 9th- to 10th-century Rashtrakuta Dynasty. As a spokenlanguage, some believe it to be even older than Tamil due to the existence of words which have more primitiveforms than in Tamil. Pre-old Kannada (or Purava HazheGannada) was the language of Banavasi in the early

Common Era, the Satavahana and Kadamba periods and hence has a history of over 2000 years.[85][86][87][88]

The Ashoka rock edict found at Brahmagiri (dated 230 BCE) has been suggested to contain a word in

identifiable Kannada.[89]

Odia is India's 6th classical language in addition to Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.[90] It isalso one of the 22 official languages in the 8th schedule of Indian constitution. Odia's importance to Indianculture, from ancient times, is evidenced by its presence in Ashoka's Rock Edict X at Kalsi palitiditu (Dhauli,

Jaugada palitiditu), dated to be from 2nd century BC.[91][92]

In addition to Indo-European and Dravidian languages, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages are in usein India. Genomic studies of ethnic groups in India suggests the Austro-Asiatic tribals were likely the earliestsettlers in India. India's language and cultural fusion is not only because of large migrations of Indo-Aryans fromcentral Asia and west Eurasia through the northwest, the genome studies suggest a major wave of humanspossibly entered India, long ago, through the northeast, along with tribal populations of Tibeto-Burman origins.

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Manuscript illustration of the

Battle of Kurukshetra.

an Odissi performer.

Genome studies of Fst distances suggest the northeastern Himalayas acted as a barrier, in the last 5000 years, tohuman migration as well as to admixing. Languages spoken in this part of India include Austro-Asiatic (e.g.

Khasi) and Tibeto-Burman (e.g. Nishi).[93][94][95][96][97]

According to the 2001 and 2011 India census, Hindi is the most spokenlanguage in India, followed by Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and

Urdu.[98] In contemporary Indian literature, there are two major literaryawards; these are the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and the JnanpithAward. Eight Jnanpith awards have been awarded in Kannada, six inHindi, five in Bengali, four in Oriya and Malayalam, three each inMarathi, Gujarati, Urdu and two each in Assamese, Telugu and Tamil.

Epics

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 Philippines,Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500

cantos (sargas),[99] and tells the story of Rama (an incarnation or Avatar 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.[100] The earliest parts of the

Mahabharata text date to 400 BC[100] and is estimated to have reached its final form by the early Gupta period

(c. 4th century AD).[101] Other regional variations of these, as well as unrelated epics include the TamilRamavataram, Kannada Pampa Bharata, Hindi Ramacharitamanasa, and MalayalamAdhyathmaramayanam. In addition to these two great Indian epics, there are five major epics in the classicalTamil language — Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Civaka-cintamani and Valayapathi-kundalakesi.

Performing arts

Dance

Let drama and dance (Nātya, ना�य) be the fifth vedic scripture.Combined with an epic story, tending to virtue, wealth, joy andspiritual freedom, it must contain the significance of everyscripture, and forward every art.

— First chapter of Nātyaśāstra, sometime between 200BC -

200AD[102][103]

India has had a long romance with the art of dance. Nātyaśāstra (Science ofDance) and Abhinaya Darpana (Mirror of Gesture) are two survivingSanskrit documents, both estimated to be between 1700 to 2200 years

old.[103]

The Indian art of dance as taught in these ancient books, according to Ragini Devi, is the expression of inner

beauty and the divine in man.[104] It is a deliberate art, nothing is left to chance, each gesture seeks tocommunicate the ideas, each facial expression the emotions.

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Bhangra folk dance from

Punjab.

Bharata Natyam dance from

Tamil Nadu.

Indian dance includes eight classical dance forms, many in narrative forms with mythological elements. The eightclassical forms accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Dramaare: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniattam ofKerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, yakshagana of Karnataka, manipuri of Manipur, odissi (orissi) of the

state of Odisha and the sattriya of

Assam.[105][106]

In addition to the formal arts of dance,Indian regions have a strong free form,folksy dance tradition. Some of the folkdances include the bhangra of Punjab; thebihu of Assam; the zeliang of Nagaland; thechhau of Jharkhand and Bengal; theGhumura Dance, Gotipua, Mahari danceand Dalkhai of Odisha; the qauwwalis,birhas and charkulas of Uttar Pradesh; thejat-jatin, nat-natin and saturi of Bihar; theghoomar of Rajasthan; the dandiya andgarba of Gujarat; the kolattam of AndhraPradesh; the yakshagana of Karnataka ;lavani of Maharashtra;Dekhnni of Goa.Recent developments include adoption ofinternational dance forms particularly in the

urban centres of India, and the extension of Indian classical dance arts by the Kerala Christian community, to tell

stories from the Bible.[107]

Drama and theatre

Indian drama and theatre has a long history alongside its music and dance. Kalidasa's plays like Shakuntala andMeghadoota are some of the older dramas, 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.[108]

Nātyāchārya Māni Mādhava Chākyār is credited for reviving the age old drama tradition from extinction. Hewas 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.[109][110]

Music

Music is an integral part of India's culture. Natyasastra, a 2000-year-old Sanskrit text, describes five systems of

taxonomy to classify musical instruments.[111] One of these ancient Indian systems classifies musical instrumentsinto four groups according to four primary sources of vibration: strings, membranes, cymbals, and air. Accordingto Reis Flora, this is similar to the Western theory of organology. Archeologists have also reported the discovery

of a 3000-year-old, 20-key, carefully shaped polished basalt lithophone in the highlands of Odisha.[112]

The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda (1000 BC) that are still sung

in certain Vedic Śrauta sacrifices; this is the earliest account of Indian musical hymns.[113] It proposed a tonalstructure 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 frequencyinstrument. The Samaveda, and other Hindu texts, heavily influenced India's classical music tradition, which is

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Images of musical instruments drawn by Pierre Sonnerat, the French

explorer, in 1782 during his voyage through India.

The Jataka tales from Ajanta Caves.

known today in two distinct styles:Carnatic and Hindustani music. Boththe Carnatic music and Hindustanimusic systems are based on themelodic base (known as Rāga), sungto a rhythmic cycle (known as Tāla);these principles were refined in thenātyaśāstra (200 BC) and the dattilam

(300 AD).[114]

The current music of India includesmultiple varieties of religious, classical,folk, popular and pop music.

Prominent contemporary Indianmusical forms included filmi andIndipop. Filmi refers to the wide rangeof music written and performed formainstream Indian cinema, primarilyBollywood, and accounts for more

than 70 percent of all music sales in the country.[115] 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.[116]

Visual arts

Painting

Cave paintings from Ajanta, Bagh, Ellora and Sittanavasal and templepaintings testify to a love of naturalism. Most early and medieval art inIndia is Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. A freshly made coloured flour design(Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostlySouth Indian) Indian homes. Raja Ravi Varma is one the classicalpainters from medieval India.

Pattachitra, Madhubani painting, Mysore painting, Rajput painting,Tanjore painting, Mughal painting are some notable Genres of IndianArt; while Nandalal Bose, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Geeta Vadhera,

Jamini Roy and B. Venkatappa[117] are some modern painters.Among the present day artists, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamacnahri,Devajyoti Ray and Shibu Natesan represent a new era of Indian artwhere global art shows direct amalgamation with Indian classical styles. These recent artists have acquiredinternational recognition. Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Mysore Palace has on display a few good Indianpaintings.

Sculpture

The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilisation, where stone and bronze figures have beendiscovered. Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism developed further, India produced some extremelyintricate bronzes as well as temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora were not constructedby using blocks but carved out of solid rock.

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The 5th-century Buddhist

vishvakarma cave at Ellora,

Maharashtra.

Marble Sculpture of

female, c. 1450,

Rajasthan

Considered to be an "unrivaled

architectural wonder",[118] the Taj

Mahal in Agra is a prime example of

Indo-Islamic architecture. One of the

world's seven wonders.

The Konark Sun Temple in Odisha, is

one of many World Heritage Sites in

India.[119]

Sculptures produced in the northwest, in stucco, schist, or clay, display a very strong blend of Indian andClassical Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman influence. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathuraevolved almost simultaneously. During the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries) sculpture reached a very high

standard in execution and delicacy in modeling.These styles and others elsewhere in India evolvedleading to classical Indian art that contributed toBuddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout SoutheastCentral and East Asia.

Architecture

Indian architecture encompasses a multitude ofexpressions over space and time, constantlyabsorbing new ideas. The result is an evolvingrange of architectural production that nonethelessretains a certain amount of continuity acrosshistory. Some of its earliest production are found in

the Indus Valley Civilisation(2600–1900 BC) which ischaracterised by well planned citiesand houses. Religion and kingshipdo not seem to have played animportant role in the planning and layout of these towns.

During the period of theMauryan and Guptaempires and theirsuccessors, severalBuddhist architecturalcomplexes, such as thecaves of Ajanta and Elloraand the monumental SanchiStupa were built. Later on,South India produced several Hindu temples like ChennakesavaTemple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and theKesava Temple at Somanathapura, Brihadeeswara Temple,Thanjavur built by Raja Raja Chola, the Sun Temple, Konark, Sri

Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, and the Buddha stupa (Chinna Lanja dibba and Vikramarka kotadibba) at Bhattiprolu. Angkor Wat, Borobudur and other Buddhist and Hindu temples indicate strong Indianinfluence on South East Asian architecture, as they are built in styles almost identical to traditional Indianreligious 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 Shuiis more commonly used throughout the world. Though Vastu is conceptually similar to Feng Shui in that it alsotries to harmonise the flow of energy, (also called life-force or Prana in Sanskrit and Chi/Ki inChinese/Japanese), through the house, it differs in the details, such as the exact directions in which variousobjects, rooms, materials, etc. are to be placed..

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The Umaid Bhawan Palace in

Jodhpur, one of the largest private

residences in the world.[120]

The Victoria Memorial in Kolkata

illuminated at night.

Cricket was introduced to India by

the British. Now it is the country's

most popular sport.

The annual Snake boat race is

performed during Onam Celebrations

on the Pamba River at Aranmula near

Pathanamthitta.

With the advent of Islamic influence from the west, Indian architecturewas adapted to allow the traditions of the new religion. FatehpurSikri, Taj Mahal, Gol Gumbaz, Qutub Minar, Red Fort of Delhi arecreations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbolsof India. The colonial rule of the British Empire saw the developmentof Indo-Saracenic style, and mixing of several other styles, such asEuropean Gothic. The Victoria Memorial or the Chhatrapati ShivajiTerminus are notable examples.

Indian architecture has influenced eastern and southeastern Asia, dueto the spread of Buddhism. A number of Indian architectural featuressuch as the temple mound or stupa, temple spire or sikhara, templetower or pagoda and temple gate or torana, have become famoussymbols of Asian culture, used extensively in East Asia and SouthEast Asia. The central spire is also sometimes called a vimanam. Thesouthern temple gate, or gopuram is noted for its intricacy andmajesty.

Contemporary Indian architecture is more cosmopolitan. Cities areextremely compact and densely populated. Mumbai's Nariman Pointis famous for its Art Deco buildings. Recent creations such as theLotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of Indialike Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh, are notable.

Sports and martial arts

Sports

Field hockey is the official national sport in India.[123][124] At a timewhen it was especially popular, the India national field hockey teamwon the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup, and 8 gold, 1 silver, and 2bronze medals at the Olympic Games. However, field hockey in India

no longer has the following that it once did.[124]

Cricket is considered the most popular sport in India.[123] The Indianational cricket team won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, the 2011Cricket World Cup, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2013 ICCChampions Trophy and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophywith Sri Lanka. Domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, theDuleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and theChallenger Series. In addition, BCCI conducts the Indian PremierLeague, a Twenty20 competition.

A large number of football is played in the Indian state of PoschimBongo. The city of Kolkata is the home to the largest stadium in India,and the second largest stadium in the world by capacity, Salt LakeStadium. The city of joy is a centre of football activity in India and ishome to top national clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., KingfisherEast Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan

Sporting Club.[125]

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In 2011, India hosted its first Formula

One Grand Prix event.

Yoga originated in India. Patañjali, in

India's ancient books, suggests yoga's

goal is to help one focus, reflect

upon, know and express one's highest

self.[121][122] India's cultural journey

with yoga is now popular in many

parts of the world.

Chess is commonly believed to have originated in northwestern India during the Gupta empire,[126][127][128][129]

where its early form in the 6th century was known as chaturanga.Other games which originated in India and continue to remain popularin wide parts of northern India include Kabaddi, Gilli-danda, and Khokho. Traditional southern Indian games include Snake boat race andKuttiyum kolum.

In 2011, India inaugurated a privately built Buddh InternationalCircuit, its first motor racing circuit. The 5.14-kilometre circuit is inGreater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi. The first Formula One

Indian Grand Prix event was hosted here in October 2011.[130][131]

Indian martial arts

One of the best known forms of ancient Indian martial arts is theKalarippayattu from Kerala. This ancient fighting style originated insouthern India in the 12th century BCE and is regarded as one of the

oldest surviving martial arts.[132] In this form martial arts, variousstages of physical training include ayurvedic massage with sesame oilto impart suppleness to the body (uzichil); a series of sharp bodymovements so as to gain control over various parts of the body(miapayattu); and, complex sword fighting techniques (paliyankam).Silambam, which was developed around 200 AD, traces its roots to

the Sangam period in southern India.[133] Silambam is unique amongIndian martial arts because it uses complex footwork techniques(kaaladi), including a variety of spinning styles. A bamboo staff is

used as the main weapon.[133] The ancient Tamil Sangam literature mentions that between 400 BCE and 600CE, soldiers from southern India received special martial arts training which revolved primarily around the use of

spear (vel), sword (val) and shield (kedaham).[134]

Among eastern states, Paika akhada is a martial art found in Odisha. Paika akhada, or paika akhara, roughly

translates as "warrior gymnasium" or "warrior school".[135] In ancient times, these were training schools of thepeasant militia. Today's paika akhada teach physical exercises and martial arts in addition to the paika dance, aperformance art with rhythmic movements and weapons being hit in time to the drum. It incorporates acrobaticmaneuvres and use of the khanda (straight sword), patta (guantlet-sword), sticks, and other weapons.

In northern India, the musti yuddha evolved in 1100 AD and focussed on mental, physical and spiritual

training.[136] In addition, the Dhanur Veda tradition was an influential fighting arts style which considered thebow and the arrow to be the supreme weapons. The Dhanur Veda was first described in the 5th-century BCE

Viṣṇu Purāṇa[132] and is also mentioned in both of the major ancient Indian epics, the Rāmāyaṇa andMahābhārata. A distinctive factor of Indian martial arts is the heavy emphasis laid on meditation (dhyāna) as a

tool to remove fear, doubt and anxiety.[137]

Indian martial arts techniques have had a profound impact on other martial arts styles across Asia. The 3rd-century BCE Yoga Sutras of Patanjali taught how to meditate single-mindedly on points located inside one'sbody, which was later used in martial arts, while various mudra finger movements were taught in Yogacara

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Bollywood actors at International

Indian Film Academy Awards,

Toronto 2011

Buddhism. These elements of yoga, as well as finger movements in the nata dances, were later incorporated

into various martial arts.[138] According to some historical accounts, Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma was

one of the main founders of the Shaolin Kungfu.[139]

Popular media

Television

Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for

educational telecasts.[140][141] Indian small screen programmingstarted off in the mid-1970s. At that time there was only one nationalchannel Doordarshan, which was government owned. 1982 sawrevolution in TV programming in India, with the New Delhi Asiangames, India saw the colour version of TV, that year. The Ramayanaand Mahabharat were some among the popular television seriesproduced. By the late 1980s more and more people started to owntelevision sets. Though there was a single channel, televisionprogramming had reached saturation. Hence the government openedup another channel which had part national programming and partregional. This channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Bothchannels were broadcast terrestrially.

In 1991, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Since then, there has been aspurt in the number of channels available. Today, Indian small screen is a huge industry by itself, and hasthousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of theirown kind some even attaining national fame for themselves. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives aswell as working women, and even men of all kinds. Some lesser known actors have found success inBollywood. Indian TV now has many of the same channels as Western TV, including stations such as CartoonNetwork, Nickelodeon, HBO, FX, and MTV India.

Cinema

Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based film industry in India. Bollywood and theother major cinematic hubs (in Bengali Cinema, Oriya film industry, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil,Punjabi and Telugu) constitute the broader Indian film industry, whose output is considered to be the largest inthe world in terms of number of films produced and number of tickets sold.

India has produced many cinema-makers like Satyajit Ray, K. Vishwanath, Bapu, Ritwik Ghatak, Guru Dutt,K. Vishwanath, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N. Karun, Girish Kasaravalli, Shekhar Kapoor, HrishikeshMukherjee, Shankar Nag, Girish Karnad, G. V. Iyer, Maniratnam, K. Balachandhar etc. (see Indian filmdirectors). 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 therevenue patterns.

See also

North Indian Culture

South Indian culture

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Culture of the Indian subcontinent

Etiquette of Indian dining

Indian religions

Lists of Indians by state

South Asian ethnic groups

Atithi Devo Bhav

Cultural Zones of India

Glossary of Indian culture

References

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(http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/10/12704.html). Formula1.com (Formula One

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132. ̂a b Zarrilli, Phillip B. (1998). When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of

Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563940-5.

133. ̂a b Raj, J. David Manuel (1977). The Origin and the Historical Developlment of Silambam Fencing: An

Ancient Self-Defence Sport of India. Oregon: College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Univ. of

Oregon. pp. 44, 50, 83.

134. ^ Thomas A. Green (2001). Martial arts of the world: en encyclopedia. R – Z, Volume 2

(http://books.google.com/?id=v32oHSE5t6cC&printsec=frontcover). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-150-2.

135. ^ "Paika Akhada" (http://www.iakoweb.com/pakhada.html). Indian Association of Kickboxing Organisations.

Retrieved 9 February 2013.

136. ^ Jim Ollhoff (2008). Martial Arts Around the Globe (http://books.google.com/?

id=a9GmhwcHTRoC&printsec=frontcover). ABDO Group. ISBN 1-59928-979-2.

137. ^ Sulaiman Sharif (2009). 50 Martial Arts Myths (http://books.google.com/?

id=BrttF8DY3JcC&printsec=frontcover). new media entertainment ltd. ISBN 0-9677546-2-3.

138. ^ J. R. Svinth (2002). A Chronological History of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports.

(http://ejmas.com/kronos) Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences

139. ^ Cephas, Shawn (Winter 1994). "The Root of Warrior Priests in the Martial Arts". Kungfu Magazine.

140. ^ "A Snapshot of Indian Television History"

(http://www.indiantelevision.com/indianbrodcast/history/historyoftele.htm). Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd.

Retrieved 1 June 2006.

7/4/2014 Culture of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India 29/30

Further reading

Public Broadcasting System, USA (2008). The story of India - history and culture

(http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/teachers/lessons/)

Sharma, Ram Sharan (2005), India's Ancient Past, (Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-

568785-9).

Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India - From Ancient to Modern Times

(http://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/the-history-of-hindu-india/the-history-of-hindu-

india.pdf), (Himalayan Academy Publications (Hawaii, USA), ISBN 978-1-934145-38-8)

A.L. Basham, The Wonder That was India, ISBN 0-330-43909-X, Picador London

Auboyer, Jeannine (2002). Daily Life in Ancient India, from 200 BC to 700 AD. (originally published

in French in 1961), Phoenix Press, London ISBN 1-84212-591-5

Dalmia, Vasudha and Rashmi Sadana (editors), The Cambridge Companion to Modern Indian

Culture, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-51625-9

Grihault, Nicki. Culture Smart! India: A Quick Guide to Customs and Etiquette. ISBN 1-85733-

305-5.

Henderson, Carol E. (2002). Culture and Customs of India (http://books.google.com/books?

id=CaRVePXX6vEC). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-30513-7.

Naipaul, V.S, India: A Million Mutinies Now, ISBN 0-7493-9920-1.

Nilakanta Sastri, A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar, Oxford

University Press, ISBN 0-19-560686-8

Tully, Mark. No Full Stops in India. ISBN 0-14-010480-1

Patra, Avinash (2012), The Spiritual Life and Culture of India

(http://oxford.academia.edu/AvinashPatra/Books/1917989/The_Spiritual_Life_and_Culture_of_In

dia), Oxford University Press, England.

External links

Ministry of Culture (http://www.indiaculture.nic.in/indiaculture/), Government of India, Links to some

cultural sites and available grants for understanding the cultural diversity of India

India - a photojournal of its culture (http://gallery.transcendense.com/#/Amazing%20India/)

Maison de L'inde (http://maisondelinde.free.fr/site/website/first_page.htm#logo) An English language

website in France (Cité Universitaire) dedicated to Culture of India

AHK Deustch-Indische Handelskammer (http://indien.ahk.de/apk/about-india/indian-culture-craft/) An

English language website by Indo-German Chamber of Commerce with a chapter on Culture of India

Society for Promotion of Indian Art and Culture amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY)

141. ^ "INDIA" (http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=india). The Museum of Broadcast

Communications. 2002.

7/4/2014 Culture of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India 30/30

(http://www.spicmacay.com)

SWEDEN-INDIA PROJECT (http://www.swedenindia.org/) A Sweden-based effort to encourage

better understanding of Culture of India, and of other cultures in India

India and World Cultural Heritage (http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/in/) A UNESCO site

describing cultural heritage sites of India

India's intangible cultural heritage (http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?

lg=en&pg=00311&cp=IN) Another UNESCO site dedicated to Indian dance and other cultural heritage

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culture_of_India&oldid=615452285"

Categories: Arts in India Indian culture Indian society

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