Indian Culture

TheThe Indian culture has a five-millennia-old legacy, and it is characterized by a deep pluralistic heritage. This pluralistic heritage of Indian culture has successfully countered many invasions of fundamentalism and divisive threats, and thereby not only survived, but also emerged stronger. Despite claims of many fundamentalist elements, India has never been interested in presenting a monolithic cultural expression, and neither it is expected to do so in the near and distant future. The geographical area of today's India(in ancient and medieval times India was not a single political entity or a nation, but a collection of several states, who were sometimes annexed by a paramount power, sometimes they were independent) has a long track record of being subjected to a number of foreign invasions, and these have also contributed to its ethnic and cultural diversity.

They helped the Indian society to get exposed to a variety of cultural influences, and endowed the Indian cultural mosaic with its richness. Indian society has managed to absorb and assimilate the divergent traditions, customs and bodies of knowledge and art forms from its invaders and these in turn have coalesced into a cosmopolitan Indian culture of many religious practices, and a multitude of customs, beliefs, languages, art and architecture forms, etc. that we know and very easily identify with.

A Plural Cultural Tradition

Pluralistic heritage of India can be easily evident from the fact that in the sixth century BC it was tolerant enough to accept and embrace Buddhism and Jainism(and also extended state patronage to them in some cases), which dared to challenge many fundamental tenets of the then practiced Brahmanical Hinduism; the practice of casteism and polytheism being only some of them. This can be contrasted with the Roman civilization in the west, where the newly converted Christians were thrown before the lions, six centuries later, thereby setting an example of unmatched brutality. In ancient polity, both monarchies and republics( Lichchavi is one example) thrived simultaneously, and both gained social sanctions.

Indian culture always have had a non-conformist trait in it. In ancient India, various schools of Hinduism emerged; while most of them thrived on austerity and penance, exceptions like the Charvaka school also attracted great popularity. Charvakism, propounded by the saint Charvaka, didn't recognize anything beyond the sensory perceptions and called for unbridled hedonism, which was absolutely contrary to the philosophical currents of many of the established schools of Hinduism of those times. The Tantra cult of ancient India openly advocated that one can attain super consciousness or divinity through reaching the state of sexual bliss. This was extremely revolutionary thought even by today's western standards, but even thousand years earlier Indian society was open towards Tantric ideas. All these above analysis, really encapsulates the liberal tradition of Indian society, which though was gripped by insular outlook during phases of history(as in the eighteenth-early nineteenth century), had the tradition of reemerging with its pluralistic character intact.

The Language of Diversity
India has an awesome religious diversity. The land is the birth place of several religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, and it has also embraced religions like Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism in its rich cultural tapestry; the religions which have their birth in the foreign soils, and were introduced in India through invaders and missionaries.

The diversity of Indian culture is also expressed through its languages and dance forms. In today's India, there are about 415 living languages, out of them 22 are scheduled languages. The Constitution of India has stipulated Hindi and English as the two official languages to be used for communication by the Union Government. Besides these two, some of the major languages spoken in India are Tamil, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati and Assamese among others. Most of the modern languages of India are derived from Indo-Aryan or Dravidian family of languages. The descent of the former ones are mostly prevalent in the northern India, while the languages of Dravidian descent are spoken in the south India.

Indian languages are a living proof of India's pluralistic traits. English, a foreign language, introduced in India through our colonial ruler for the smooth functioning of their administrative machinery, is today an effective medium of communication among our educated and intelligentsia. Similarly Urdu, a language which has contributed a great deal to Indian literature, is a synthesis of Hindi and Persian. Persian itself was imported into India through Moghuls, and Hindi, like many other modern Indian languages with Devnagari script, is a product of Sanskrit, which in itself was a foreign language; introduced by the Aryan invaders some 3500 years earlier.

Indian dance forms are also reflections of the pluralistic heritage and culture of India. Classical dance forms, folk dance forms, western dances and typical Bollywood dances... all have their respective niches in Indian cultural cosmos. The eight classical dance forms of India are Bharata Natyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak(North India), Mohiniattyam(Kerala), Kuchipudi(Andhra Pradesh), Sattriya(Assam), Odissi(Orissa), Kathakali(Kerala) and Manipuri(Manipur). India also has a rich tradition of folk dances, which clearly reflects the diversity of customs and culture of India.

The rich body of Indian regional literature, art and architecture were also shaped by diverse influences. The Gandhara Art, which has a Greek influence on the Buddhist art; the life-like miniature paintings with their subtle colors and their assorted traditions(Moghul, Rajput, Pahari, Deccan), which were introduced during the Moghul era(and reached its height during the reign of Jehangir); the sombre Buddhist stupas; the exquisite cave sculptures and paintings narrating myths and legends revolving around Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism ( Ajanta and Ellora caves deserve a special mention in this context); the Khajuraho and Konark temples which encapsulate the colorful erotic tradition of India; the grand specimens of Indo-Persian, Moghul and colonial architecture, which dot the landscape of India in the form of places of worship, mausoleums and even official buildings(Victoria Terminus in Mumbai is a case in point), all constitute the myriad expressions of India's divergent cultural ethos, showcasing he vivid splendors of culture of India, that has survived the waves of time. This plural legacy of the Indian culture need to be preserved, developed and cherished down the ages.