Indian Culture
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Indian culture is a real wonder for people staying in other corners of the globe. Indian culture has its pros and cons, but it surely has something unique about it. Nowhere else will you get cows on the road and people in the stables! Here you will find a mystifying culture where cross dressers are completely fine with the populace and are considered lucky while a single woman is viewed with a little puzzlement. No where else will you get such tolerance for peeing on the roads and acceptance of nearly every color, religion and creed in a single country.
India is a home to a billion people who follow several different religions and creeds. At the latest count, Indians spoke about a 1000 odd languages. This diversity is probably the most amazing thing about Indian culture. Indian people can boast of greats like Gandhi who taught Ahimsa or Non-violence, which later became a theme for the entire world. The same diminutive man managed to motivate over a billion people in different states with different languages to follow the same principle to make his beloved country independent. India is a secular country that tolerates every religion with equanimity.
Another exciting feature of Indian culture is the wide variety of food in every household kitchen. However, you will enjoy Indian food, only if you can get around the spiciness and the heat. The sweetmeats or the anglicized versions of Indian home-cooked food are truly worth tasting. Weddings and other celebrations can go on for days. People of India are more comfortable with arranged marriages. They love to stay in large joint families even after they get married. Divorce rates are abysmally low, simply because Indian culture teaches to be tolerant; this attitude seeps over into their married life
Parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles and even neighbors all become like an extended family during festival times, no matter what religion. Indians love festivals and the whole jingoism which comes with it. The entire country lights up around festival time and either you join in or tolerate sleepless nights with the loud booming music. India may have a Bangalore (the IT capital of India) and a Gurgaon (the Outsourcing capital of India), but Indian culture is still revolves around people who pray to yogis, baba’s and sacred cows.
Suffice to say, that India may be racing ahead to meet with the 21st century but people of India still are strongly anchored by their roots, i.e. pure Indian culture.
Music has always occupied a significant place in Indian culture. Indian Music has a wide spectrum ranging from the simple soulful hill tribe melodies to the elaborate systems of Carnatic and Hindustani music.
History of music in Indian culture
Indian music has its origin in the Vedic hymn chants. The Vedas refer to drums, cymbals, and string and wind instruments. Bharata’s Natya Shastra composed during the period from 2nd century BC-5th century AD has had a huge impact on development of music in Indian culture. Indian music is based on ‘ragas’ which have found mention in ‘Brihaddesi’ written by Matanga in the 10th century AD. Sangitaratnakara written in the 13th century AD also has referred to 264 Ragas.
The Muslim emperors also patronized Indian music as a part of Indian culture. Amir Khusro developed the classical system of music prevalent today. Tansen was a great singer in Akbar’s court. Indian songs began to be composed not only in Sanskrit, but also in Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Persian, and Urdu. Each has its own style, but they added a touch of excellence to Indian culture and classical music.
Music in Northern and Southern India
Classical Indian music can be delineated into two main streams. The classical music of North India is the Hindustani music and that of South India is Carnatic music. Hindustani music unlike Carnatic music has more foreign influences due to the Muslim rule in the North. Both Hindustani and Carnatic music have vocal and instrumental forms. Initially both types of music were held in temples, small gatherings courts and noblemen’s houses. Today they are held in temples and concert halls.
Bhakti Sangeet or Bhajans are devotional songs. They were first composed and popularized by Kabir, Surdas, Mirabai and Tulsidas. Ghazals are a stream of Indian music that gives importance to poetic lyrics. Ghazals touch the subject of loss and remembrance of love. Qawalli stream of music touches upon the subject of love of humans for the divine. India also has a rich tradition of tribal and folk music learnt by osmosis. This music uses cruder musical instruments.
Latest trends in Indian music
The rising influence of the Western music on Indian culture is evident from the popularity of Indian pop and rock music albums. Recently fusion music- a mix of Indian and Western music was developed. This has been the result of collaborations between the Indian and Western musicians. Film music is another new entrant in the field of Indian music.
Music is an integral part of Indian culture and even a lifetime may not be enough to comprehend Indian music in its entirety.
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