Culture of India

The term culture refers to a state of intellectual development or manners. The social and political forces that influence the growth of a human being is defined as culture.

Indian culture is rich and diverse and as a result unique in its very own way. Our manners, way of communicating with one another, etc are one of the important components of our culture. Even though we have accepted modern means of living, improved our lifestyle, our values and beliefs still remain unchanged. A person can change his way of clothing, way of eating and living but the rich values in a person always remains unchanged because they are deeply rooted within our hearts, mind, body and soul which we receive from our culture.

Indian culture treats guests as god and serves them and takes care of them as if they are a part and parcel of the family itself. Even though we don’t have anything to eat, the guests are never left hungry and are always looked after by the members of the family. Elders and the respect for elders is a major component in Indian culture. Elders are the driving force for any family and hence the love and respect for elders comes from within and is not artificial. An individual takes blessings from his elders by touching their feet. Elders drill and pass on the Indian culture within us as we grow.

“Respect one another” is another lesson that is taught from the books of Indian culture. All people are alike and respecting one another is ones duty. In foreign countries the relation between the boss and the employee is like a master and slave and is purely monetary whereas in Indian culture the relation between the boss and the employee is more like homely relations unlike foreign countries.

Helpful nature is another striking feature in our Indian culture. Right from our early days of childhood we are taught to help one another in need of help and distress. If not monetary then at least in kind or non-monetary ways. Indian culture tells us to multiply and distribute joy and happiness and share sadness and pain. It tells us that by all this we can develop co-operation and better living amongst ourselves and subsequently make this world a better place to live in.

Even though India is a country of various religions and caste our culture tells us just one thing 'phir bhi dil hai Hindustani '.

Religion and Mythology

A swastika or an Om is a revered sign and mentioned as prosperity. There are many symbols like the Trishul or the Trident which is not displayed everywhere as it is considered aggressive. It is customary to smear ash or sandalwood powder in the forehead as it cools the mind.

Swastika

Om



Trishul

These are beliefs turned to tradition and most of us follow the rules and codes.

The latest generation is quite inquisitive about facts yet totally appreciates the quests of Lord Rama, the slaying of the ten headed Ravana, the piousness of Sita and the loyalty of Hanuman. Animation flicks are being created showing characters like Gathotkach the son of Bhima, Hanuman and Ganesha. Though these are kid specials, this would be the best way to teach them about Gods and religion.

Ten Headed Ravana

Sita

Hanuman

Ganesh

Dashavatar is a wonderful combination of story and the magnanimous nature of Lord Vishnu. Each avatar or creation has a set nature and character. It is mind blowing to see the story narration and is well received by the all of us. Our art and culture have direct relation with the mythology. The Shravan month is a holy time where people get religiously and maintain fasting. This is also the time for the beginning of all festivals.
Magic or splendor is what we see at the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in India.

The Durga Puja is another feat. South traditions relate to Lord Muruga( Karthik) or Lord Ayyappa. The shrine of Vaishnodevi in Jammu involves climbing a steep mountain of 14 kilometers bent and the mission seems accomplished once we see the holy pind. People hold allegiance and complete belief in miracles when life challenges them. Mythology is the treasure of Indian religion and must be given to our progeny.

Lord Vishnu

Lord Muruga

Lord Ayyappa

Temples In India

India is known as one of the few countries in the world that has a heritage dating back centuries ago. Well it can be proved till date as the temples stand witness to the rich cultural heritage of our country.

Travel to the north of the country or the south there are temples and heritage sites that will take your breath away. Some are so profound with beauty that they are made tourist spots for people not only in the country but for tourists from abroad too.

Some famous temples to mention are the Khajuraho Temple, Badrinath, Pushkar, Tirupati, Kanyakumari, Srimahavirji, Kedarnath, Dwarkadeesh, Ajanta Cave Temples, Kalkaji, Birlamandir, Lotus temple and Meenakshi temple.

Khajuraho Temple

Badrinath

Pushkar

Kanyakumari Temple

Srimahavirji

Kedarnath Temple

Ajanta Cave Temples

These however are the very famous ones. But if one loves to take a tour of temples then South India boasts of the best the country has. They are beautiful with architecture resounding from the tip that rises meters into the sky to its very edge that settles on the ground. Inside, outside there is drama in every window, door, steps and even in the bells that complete the temple.

Also the rituals are very simple and temples are less orthodox in the North as compared to the South, where the rituals are elaborate and very long. The stone deities are dressed in the best and taken for processions during the year. The richer the temple the more elaborate is the festivities. Also the temples in Kerala are starkly different from the temples in the other three states.

The temples are so large down south that they become mini complexes and serve as a place to feed people, wedding grounds, conduct festivals, hold kitchen wares and even religious schooling.

Indian History

History of India . An overview : The people of India have had a continuous civilization since 2500 B.C., when the inhabitants of the Indus River valley developed an urban culture based on commerce and sustained by agricultural trade. This civilization declined around 1500 B.C., probably due to ecological changes.

During the second millennium B.C., pastoral, Aryan-speaking tribes migrated from the northwest into the subcontinent. As they settled in the middle Ganges River valley, they adapted to antecedent cultures.

The political map of ancient and medieval India was made up of myriad kingdoms with fluctuating boundaries. In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. During this period, known as India's Golden Age, Hindu culture and political administration reached new heights.

Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems--the prevailing Hindu and Muslim--mingled, leaving lasting cultural influences on each other.

The first British outpost in South Asia was established in 1619 at Surat on the northwestern coast. Later in the century, the East India Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers.

The British expanded their influence from these footholds until, by the 1850s, they controlled most of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in north India led by mutinous Indian soldiers caused the British Parliament to transfer all political power from the East India Company to the Crown. Great Britain began administering most of India directly while controlling the rest through treaties with local rulers.

In the late 1800s, the first steps were taken toward self-government in British India with the appointment of Indian councilors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils. Beginning in 1920, Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party used both parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation to achieve independence.

On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth, with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. Enmity between Hindus and Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and West Pakistan, where there were Muslim majorities. India became a republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution on January 26, 1950.

After independence, the Congress Party, the party of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, ruled India under the influence first of Nehru and then his daughter and grandson, with the exception of two brief periods in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prime Minister Nehru governed India until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also died in office. In 1966, power passed to Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977. In 1975, beset with deepening political and economic problems, Mrs. Gandhi declared a state of emergency and suspended many civil liberties. Seeking a mandate at the polls for her policies, she called for elections in 1977, only to be defeated by Moraji Desai, who headed the Janata Party, an amalgam of five opposition parties.

n 1979, Desai's Government crumbled. Charan Singh formed an interim government, which was followed by Mrs. Gandhi's return to power in January 1980. On October 31, 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, and her son, Rajiv, was chosen by the Congress (I)--for "Indira"--Party to take her place. His government was brought down in 1989 by allegations of corruption and was followed by V.P. Singh and then Chandra Shekhar.

In the 1989 elections, although Rajiv Gandhi and Congress won more seats in the 1989 elections than any other single party, he was unable to form a government with a clear majority. The Janata Dal, a union of opposition parties, was able to form a government with the help of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the right and the communists on the left. This loose coalition collapsed in November 1990, and the government was controlled for a short period by a breakaway Janata Dal group supported by Congress (I), with Chandra Shekhar as Prime Minister. That alliance also collapsed, resulting in national elections in June 1991.

On May 27, 1991, while campaigning in Tamil Nadu on behalf of Congress (I), Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, apparently by Tamil extremists from Sri Lanka. In the elections, Congress (I) won 213 parliamentary seats and put together a coalition, returning to power under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. This Congress-led government, which served a full 5-year term, initiated a gradual process of economic liberalization and reform, which has opened the Indian economy to global trade and investment. India's domestic politics also took new shape, as traditional alignments by caste, creed, and ethnicity gave way to a plethora of small, regionally based political parties.

The final months of the Rao-led government in the spring of 1996 were marred by several major political corruption scandals, which contributed to the worst electoral performance by the Congress Party in its history. The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged from the May 1996 national elections as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha but without enough strength to prove a majority on the floor of that Parliament. Under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP coalition lasted in power 13 days. With all political parties wishing to avoid another round of elections, a 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal emerged to form a government known as the United Front, under the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D. Deve Gowda. His government lasted less than a year, as the leader of the Congress Party withdrew his support in March 1997. Inder Kumar Gujral replaced Deve Gowda as the consensus choice for Prime Minister of a 16-party United Front coalition.

In November 1997, the Congress Party in India again withdrew support for the United Front. New elections in February 1998 brought the BJP the largest number of seats in Parliament--182--but fell far short of a majority. On March 20, 1998, the President inaugurated a BJP-led coalition government with Vajpayee again serving as Prime Minister. On May 11 and 13, 1998, this government conducted a series of underground nuclear tests forcing U.S. President Clinton to impose economic sanctions on India pursuant to the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act.

In April 1999, the BJP-led coalition government fell apart, leading to fresh elections in September. The National Democratic Alliance-a new coalition led by the BJP-gained a majority to form the government with Vajpayee as Prime Minister in October 1999.

Ramayana and Mahabharata

INDIAN mythology consists of tales of gods, the devas and the asuras. However, there are only two famous epics for the Hindus. They are the The Mahabarath and Ramayana.

The Mahabharata is a book written by the poet Vyasa. It is the epic tale of a quarrel between the Pandavas and the Kauravas that culminated in a fight.

Ramayana Sanskrit epic by Valmiki, based on the story of Rama, son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. The epic is divided into seven episodes or parts.

Learn more: The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are the ancient epic poems written in Sanskrit and till date have been a cannon in Hindu religion. The Puranas is a colossal collection of verse style of the many gods and goddesses followed by the religion.

Kalidasa is one of the famous poets documented of the centuries gone by and has written two epics himself, the Raghuvansha (i.e. the dynasty of Raghu) and Kumarasambhava (i.e. the birth of Kumar Kartikeya). The language used here was the classical Sanskrit. The main language in princely state of India being Sanskrit, most of it was documented in this language. This language too had three periods in its life the Classical Sanskrit, the Vedic Sanskrit and the Shrauta Sutras. Hence an in-depth study of the language is needed for those who want to delve into the epics of India.

The Mahabharata is an epic written by poet Vyasa. It is about the life and the battles between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Ramayana was written by Valmiki on the life of Lord Rama. The epic is divided into 7 series right from the birth to the travels of Lord Rama and his wins over evil. The main message from these two great epics lie broadly on righteousness, good conduct, dharma, fearlessness, dedication and duty i.e. the good qualities one should base their life upon.

The Kannada epic stories revolve around Jain tradition. Adikavi Pampa (902 – 975 CE) is the most well known poet in Kannada literature. He has written the Pampa Bharata, Adipurana, and translated the Mahabharata in Kannada making it available for the common man.

Other important books in Indian literature and religion include the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. The Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the warrior prince. It entails the deeds one has to accomplish on earth. It says that everyone has to give gratitude to the almighty and give some contribution to earth through his or her good deeds. However painful they may be, if you are assigned to a particular job, then you must complete it to enjoy the rewards when one passes away.

Festivals In India

Festivals in India are characterized by color, gaiety, enthusiasm, prayers and rituals. Foreign travelers are struck by the scale and multiplicity of Indian festivals that have evolved in the society.

Diwali, the popular festival of Indians, celebrates the return of Lord Rama and Sita from exile. Diwali is also called as the festival of lights. It usually falls between 15^th October and 15^th November. It is celebrated because on that day hundreds of years ago lord ram returned home to Ayodhya after 14 years of being into exile.

It also celebrates the day Mother Goddess destroyed a demon called 'Mahisha' & Victory of Good over evil. The day is celebrated by lighting lamps, diyas, visiting relatives, feasting, and displaying fireworks.

Other Festivals in India :

The word festival means feast day, festive celebration. As kids, when there used to be festivals the only thing that came to our minds was holidays and sweets that in turn meant lots of fun. India being a society of may religions there are a lot many festivals. For the Hindus there is diwali, for the Muslims there is id, for the Christians its Christmas and for the Parsis it’s the New Year and apart from all these days there are two other days that are celebrated by all Indians irrespective of cast, creed or sex. Yes, its 26^th January and 15^th August. i.e. republic day and the Independence Day

Dusshera in India is another festival celebrated by the Hindus. It marks the victory of good over evil. On that day lord ram killed the evil Ravana. On dusshera an effigy of Ravana is burnt at many places.

Ramzan Id is the most important festival in the Muslim calendar. A month long fasting and prayers is followed by Ramzan Id. It’s said that during this month all the prayers and wishes of an individual comes true.

Christmas in India - Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ on 25^th December every year and is an inseparable part of Christians all over the country and the world. Santa Claus, gifts, cakes, cookies, and the beautifully decorated Christmas tree with a midnight mass depicts he beginning of Christmas.

Easter is another important festival for Christians. It’s usually falls in the month of March or April. 40 days fast is followed by Good Friday and Easter. On this day Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Easter eggs and Easter bunnies are a major attraction during Easter.

Parsi New Year is one of the most important days in the Parsi community. It marks the beginning of a New Year filled with joy and prosperity.

15^th august is celebrated by all Indians because on this day in the year 1947 India received independence from the British rule in India.

Holi is another festival that is celebrated by all communities. It’s a festival of colours. It marks the beginning of summer season and so water balloons are burst to beat the heat.

Some other festivals that are celebrated happily all over the country are Onam, Baisakhi, Pongal, Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Jayanti, Guru Purnima, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Gandhi Jayanti, Kumbh Mela, Children’s day, Ganesh Chaturthi and many many more festivals.

Rakhsa Bandhan

Krishna Janmashtami

Kumbh Mela



Ganesh Chaturthi

Festivals bring joy and happiness in our lives. If we celebrate all festivals alike we can spread the message of joy, happiness, brotherhood and humanity among one another and live as one family and community.