Characteristics of Indian culture

• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
• The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
• Chess was invented in India.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.
• The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.
• The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'.
• The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
• The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
• The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago

Indian culture is unique and variant. It includes intellectual and social aspects of any human being. It also takes account of the aesthetic instinct as well as the spiritual impulses of a human being. India is a vast country with a lot of diversity in her physical and social environment. Its people speak in different dialects and follow different religions.

You can also see these diversities in their food habits and dress patterns. Besides, look at the myriad forms of dance and music in our country. But within all these diversities, there is an underlying unity which acts as a cementing force. The intermingling of people has been steadily taking place in India over centuries. A number of people of different racial stock, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs have settled down here.

Let us not forget that the composite and dynamic character of Indian culture is a result of the rich contributions of all these diverse cultural groups over a long period of time. The distinctive features of Indian culture and its uniqueness are the precious possession of all Indians.

Continuity and change in culture

Many great cultures had developed in different countries and regions of the world. Many of them have perished or have been replaced by other cultures. However Indian culture has had an enduring character. Despite major changes and upheavals significant threads of continuity can be traced throughout the course of Indian history right up to the present day.

You may have read about the Harappan civilisation which flourished in the Indian subcontinent over 4500 years ago. Archaeologists have found evidences to show that cultures existed here even before the matured phase of the Harappan civilisation. This tells us that we have a very long history behind us. And yet what is amazing is that even today the pattern of a house in an Indian village is not very different from that of a Harappan house. Some aspects of Harappan culture are still practised, such as, the worshipping of Mother Goddess and Pashupati.

Similarly, Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and many other traditions continue to be followed even today. At the same time one should not lose sight of the changes as are evident in the multistoried buildings in the metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, quite unlike the Harappan houses that had only one storey. Continuity and change in our civilisation have gone hand in hand. Its people evolved with time, discarding what was irrelevant to adapt to the changes of the modern age.

In our long history, there have been periods of ups and downs. As a result, movements have grown and reforms have been brought about. The reform movements in the Vedic religion brought about by Jainism and Buddhism in sixth century BC and the religious and social awakening in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in modern India are a few examples when revolutionary changes were brought about in Indian thought and practices.

Yet the thread of basic philosophy of Indian culture continued and still persists. Thus a process of continuity and change has always been a feature of Indian culture. This shows the dynamic character of our culture.

Variety and Unity

Indian culture, over the last three millennia, has successfully, but quietly, has integrated from time to time parts from other religions and cultures into itself. Indeed, few cultures in the world have such variety as the Indian culture. You may perhaps wonder why the people of Kerala use coconut oil while the people of Uttar Pradesh use mustard oil for cooking.

This is because Kerala is a coastal state and coconut grows here in plenty while Uttar Pradesh is a plain area which is favourable for the growth of mustard. What is the similarity in the Bhangra dance of Punjab or the Pongal of Tamil Nadu or the Bihu dance of Assam? Both are celebrated after a rich harvest of crops.

Have you noticed the different languages that we speak like Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati or Oriya? India is the home of many forms of dance and music which we normally use for festivals and social functions like marriages or the birth of a child. A large number of languages and dialects are spoken in our country, which has led to the emergence of a great variety of literature.

People belonging to eight great religions of the world co-exist here in a harmonious manner. Do you know that India is home to many religions of the world like Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and of course Hinduism. Numerous styles of architecture, sculpture and painting have developed here. Different styles of music and dance, both folk and classical, exist in the country. So also are numerous festivals and customs.

This wide variety has led to the making of Indian culture both composite one and rich and beautiful at the same time. Why is there so much variety in our culture? There are many reasons for this. The vastness of the country and variation in its physical and climatic features is an obvious reason for the variety. The second important reason for the variety in our culture is the intermingling among various ethnic groups.

Since time immemorial, people from far and near have been coming and settling here. We find people belonging to different racial stocks like the Proto-Australoids, the Negroids and the Mongoloids living in India. Various ethnic groups like Iranians, Greeks, Kushanas, Shakas, Hunas, Arabs, Turks, Mughals and Europeans also came to India, settled here and intermixed with the local population.

The people belonging to other cultures brought their cultural habits, thoughts and ideas, which got amalgamated into the existing culture. You will be surprised to know that it was only around second century BC that stitched clothes such as salwars, kurtas, topees, etc. were brought to India, by the Kushanas, Shakas and Parthians. Prior to that Indians wore clothes which were unstitched. The latest is the introduction of shirts, trousers, skirts, etc.

which were brought by the Europeans in the eighteenth century. India through the ages has shown a remarkable capacity for assimilation of ideas. This has contributed to the variety and richness of our culture. Along with contacts with outside cultures, cultural exchange between different regions of India has also continued. The Chikan work of Lucknow, Phulkari embrodery of Punjab, Kantha embroidery of Bengal, Patola of Orissa show a distinct regional flavour.

Although the centres in the South, North, East and West of India have their characteristic cultures, yet these did not develop in absolute isolation. Inspite of the physical barriers, Indians used to travel from one part of the country to another for trade or pilgrimage. Some regions were joined together through conquests or by alliance. As a result, people transmitted cultural habits and thoughts from one part of the country to the other.

Military campaigns too took people from one place to another. This helped in exchanging ideas. Such contacts have led to the development of commonness in Indian culture, which has been maintained throughout our history. Another unifying factor is climate.

Despite geographical diversity and climatic variations India experiences an inherent unity. The system of monsoons is the most important component of the Indian climatic pattern and this gives unity to the whole country. The coming of the monsoon has ensured that agriculture remains the main occupation of the people of India.

On the other hand the differences in physical features have affected the food habits, dress, houses and economic activities of people leading to the formation of social, economic and political institutions. These factors in turn influenced the thinking and philosophy of the people.

The variety in physical features and climate of India has thus led to the development of a variety of cultures in different regions. The typical features of different regions have given some identity to these cultures. The composite nature of our culture is reflected in our music, dance forms, drama and art forms like paintings, sculpture and architecture as well. Our literature in different languages also reflects this composite nature.

Unity in diversity is reflected in our political forms as well. During the early Vedic period, society was pastoral, that is, people used to move from place to place in search of pastures. But as these people started practising agriculture, they settled down. This settled life led to community development and growth of towns which needed rules and regulations, thus emerged a political organisation.

This included the sabhas and samitis which were political bodies through which people participated in governance. In course of time, the concept of rashtra emerged and possession of territory became the new measure of power. In some places, republics came up.

The period from sixth to fourth century BC is known as the age of mahajanapadas in India. In these kingdoms kings had more powers. Subsequently large empires were also established with emperors exercising absolute powers. You may be aware of ancient rulers such as Ashoka, Samudragupta and Harshavardhana.