Society

Overview
According to Eugene M. Makar, traditional Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy.
He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in
society. This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and spirits have an integral and
functional role in determining their life. Several differences such as religion divide the culture.
However, a far more powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and
polluting occupations. Strict social taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years. [12] In
recent years, particularly in cities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even
disappeared. Important family relations extend 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.

Family
Family plays a significant role in the Indian culture. For generations, India has had a prevailing
tradition of the joint family system. It is a system under which extended members of a family –
parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. – live together. Usually, the eldest
male member is the head in the joint Indian family system. He makes all important decisions and
rules, and other family members abide by them.

Marriage
For centuries, arranged marriages have been the tradition in Indian society. Even today, the vast
majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-
members, with the consent of the bride and groom. Arranged matches are made after taking into
account factors such as age, height, personal values and tastes, the backgrounds of their families
(wealth, social standing), their castes and the astrological compatibility of the couples' horoscopes.

In India, the marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low — 1.1% compared
with about 50% in the United States. The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce
rate. The divorce rates have risen significantly in recent years:

"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
women."
Namaste
Namaste, Namaskar or Namaskara or Namaskaram, Vanakkam or Sat Shri Akal is a common spoken
greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Namaskar is considered a slightly more formal
version than namaste but both express deep respect. It is commonly used in India and Nepal
by Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, and many continue to use this outside the Indian
subcontinent. In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbal
communication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made usually wordlessly upon departure.
Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namah):
to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and respect, and (te): "to you". As explained by an Indian
scholar, in literal terms Namaste refers to 'That which is of God in me bows to that which is of God in
you'.

Festivals
India, being a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various
religions. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri Diwali, Ganesh
Chaturthi, Durga puja, Holi, Rakshabandhan and Dussehra. Several harvest festivals, such
as Sankranthi,Pongal and Onam,"Nuakhai" are also fairly popular.

Certain festivals in India are celebrated by multiple religions. Notable examples include Diwali, which
is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, and Buddh Purnima, celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus.
Islamic festivals, such Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan, are celebrated by Muslims across India.
Sikh Festivals, such as Guru Nanak Jayanti, Baiskhi are celebrated with full fanfare by Sikhs and
hindu.

Clothing
Traditional clothing in India greatly varies across different parts of the country and is influenced
immensely by local culture, geography and climate.

Worn by women on their forehead, the bindi is considered to be a highly auspicious mark in Hindu
religion. Traditionally, the red bindi (or sindoor) was worn only by the married Hindu women, but now it
has become a part of women's fashion. Some Indian traditions consider thebindi to be representative
of the third eye.

India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of the country's history. Ancient
Vedic texts mention clothes made from barks and leaves (known as phataka). The 11th century
BC Rig-veda mentions dyed and embroidered garments (known as paridhan and pesasrespectively)
and thus highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during the
Vedic age. In 5th century BC, Greek historian Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of
Indian cotton clothes. By 2nd century AD, muslins manufactured in southern India were imported by
the Roman Empire and silk cloth was one of the major exports of ancient India along with  Indian
spices. Stitched clothing in India was developed before 10th century AD and was further popularized
in 15th century by Muslim empires in India. Draped clothing styles remained popular with India's
Hindu population while the Muslims increasingly adopted tailored garments.

Languages and literature

History
With its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BC, the Rigvedic Sanskrit is one of the oldest
attestations of any Indo-Iranian language, and one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-
European language family, the family which includes English and most European languages. Sanskrit
has had a profound impact on the languages and literature of India. Hindi, India's most spoken
language, is a "Sanskritized register" of the Khariboli dialect. In addition, all modern Indo-Aryan
languages, Munda languages and Dravidian languages, have borrowed many words either directly
from Sanskrit (tatsama words), or indirectly via middle Indo-Aryan languages
(tadbhava words). Words originating in Sanskrit are estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the
vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages, and the literary forms of
(Dravidian) Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the Bengali
language arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages and its roots are traced to the 5th century
BC Ardhamagadhi language.

Tamil, one of India's major classical languages, descends from Proto-Dravidian languages which was
spoken around the third millennium BC in peninsular India. Tamil literature has existed for over two
thousand years and the earliest epigraphic records found date from around the third
centuryBC. Another major Dravidian language, Kannada is attested epigraphically from the mid-1st
millennium AD, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 9th to 10th century Rashtrakuta Dynasty.
Pre-old Kannada (or Purava HaleGannada) was the language of Banavasi in the early Common Era,
theSatavahana and Kadamba periods and hence has a history of over 2000 years. The Ashoka rock
edict found at Brahmagiri (dated to 230 BC) has been suggested to contain a word in identifiable
Kannada.

According to 2001 India census, Hindi is the most spoken language in India, followed
by Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil. In contemporary Indian literature, there are two major literary
awards; these are the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and the Jnanpith Award. Seven Jnanpith awards
each have been awarded in Tamil, Kannada, six in Hindi, five in Bengali, four in Malayalam, three
each in Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu and Oriya.

Poetry
India has strong traditions of poetry ever since the ancient Rigveda (ṛgvedá), as well as prose
compositions dating back to the Vedic civilization. Poetry is often closely related to musical traditions,
and much of poetry can be attributed to religious movements. Writers and philosophers were often
also skilled poets.

Throughout India's history, poetry has not only served spirituality and social reform goals, but has also
served as a non-violent tool ofnationalism and freedom. These traditions can be traced back to
influential medieval Indian poets such as Basaveshwara (vachanas) , Kabīraand Purandara
Dāsa (padas and devaranamas). Examples of influential poets during the modern era
include Rabindranath Tagore, Kuvempuand K. S. Narasimhaswamy.
Performing arts
Dance
Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are
the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhauof Jharkhand and Orissa,
the ghoomar of Rajasthan, the dandiya and garba of Gujarat, the Yakshagana of Karnataka
and lavani of Maharashtra and Dekhnni of Goa. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms
and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India'sNational Academy
of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar
Pradesh, kathakali andmohiniattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra
Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of the state of Odisha and the sattriya of Assam.

Drama and theater

Indian drama and theater has a long history alongside its music and dance. Kalidasa's plays
like Shakuntala and Meghadoota are some of the older plays, following those of Bhasa. One of the
oldest surviving theatre traditions of the world is the 2,000 year old Kutiyattam of Kerala. It strictly
follows the Natya Shastra. Nātyāchārya Māni Mādhava Chākyār is credited for reviving the age old
drama tradition from extinction. He was known for mastery of Rasa Abhinaya. He started to perform
the Kalidasa plays like Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra;
Bhasa'sSwapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra; Harsha's Nagananda.

Music
The music of India includes multiple varieties of religious, folk, popular, pop, and classical music. The
oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda that are still sung in
certain Vedic Śrauta sacrifices. India's classical music tradition is heavily influenced by Hindu texts. It
includes two distinct styles: Carnatic and Hindustani music.

The earliest account of Indian musical hymns is found in the 1000 BC Sāmaveda. It proposed a tonal
structure consisting of seven notes, which were named, in descending order,
as Krusht, Pratham, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturth, Mandra and Atiswār. These refer to the notes of a flute,
which was the only fixed frequency instrument. Both the Hindustani classical music and the Carnatic
classical music systems are based on the melodic mode (known as Rāga), sung to a rhythmic cycle
or tala. These principles were refined in the nātyaśāstra (200 BC) and thedattilam (300 AD).

Purandaradasa is considered the "father of carnatic music" (Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha). He

concluded his songs with a salutation to Lord Purandara Vittala and is believed to have composed as
many as 475,000 songs in the Kannada language. However, only about 1000 are known today.

Prominent contemporary Indian musical forms include filmi and Indipop. Filmi refers to the wide range
of music written and performed for mainstream Indian cinema, primarily Bollywood, and accounts for
more than 70 percent of all music sales in the country. 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.]

Visual arts
Painting
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in
places like Bhimbetka, some of which go back to the Stone Age. Ancient texts outline theories of
darragh and anecdotal accounts suggesting that it was common for households to paint their
doorways or indoor rooms where guests resided.

Cave paintings from Ajanta, Bagh, Ellora and Sittanavasal and temple paintings testify to a love of

naturalism. Most early and medieval art in India is Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. A freshly made coloured
flour design (Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostly South Indian)
Indian homes. Raja Ravi Varma is one the classical painters from medieval India.

Madhubani painting, Mysore painting, Rajput painting, Tanjore painting, Mughal painting are some

notable Genres of Indian Art; while Nandalal Bose, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Geeta Vadhera, Jamini
Roy and B.Venkatappa[68] are some modern painters. Among the present day artists, Atul Dodiya,
Bose Krishnamacnahri, Devajyoti Ray and Shibu Natesan represent a new era of Indian art where
global art shows direct amalgamation with Indian classical styles. These recent artists have acquired
international recognition. Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Mysore Palace has on display a few good
Indian paintings.

Indian martial arts

One of the best known forms of ancient Indian martial arts is the Kalarippayattu from Kerala. This
ancient fighting style originated in southern India in 12th century BC and is regarded as one of the
oldest surviving martial arts.[75] In this form martial arts, various stages of physical training
include ayurvedic massage with sesame oil so as to impart suppleness to the body (uzichil), a series
of sharp body movements so as to gain control over various parts of the body ( miapayattu) and
complex sword fighting techniques (paliyankam).[76] Silambam, which was developed around 200 AD,
traces its roots to the Sangam period in southern India.[77] Silambam is unique among Indian martial
arts because it uses complex footwork techniques (kaaladi) including a variety of spinning styles and
a bamboo staff is used as the main weapon. [77] The ancient Tamil Sangam literature mentions that
between 400 BC and 600 AD, soldiers from southern India received special martial arts training which
revolved primarily around the use of spear (vel), sword (val) and shield (kedaham).

In northern India, the musti yuddha evolved in 1100 AD and focussed on mental, physical and even
spiritual training.[79] In addition, the Dhanur Veda tradition was an influential fighting arts style which
considered the bow and the arrow to be the supreme weapons. The Dhanur Veda was first described
in the 5th century BC Viṣṇu Purāṇa[75] and is also mentioned in both of the major ancient Indian
epics, 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.

Indian martial arts techniques have had a profound impact on other martial arts styles across Asia.
The 3rd century BC Yoga Sutras of Patanjali taught how to meditate single-mindedly on points located
inside one's body, which was later used in martial arts, while various mudra finger movements were
taught in Yogacara Buddhism. These elements of yoga, as well as finger movements in
the nata dances, were later incorporated into various martial arts.[81] According to some historical
accounts, Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma was one of the main founders of the Shaolin Kungfu.