Indian Culture and Traditions are unique across the world. The Indian Culture and Traditions Essay elaborated on the variety of traditions and cultures followed by people in India. India is a country of having many cultures, traditions, and religions that made people living in a peaceful, colourful, rich, and diverse nation. It is unbelievable that different directions of India like north, south, east, and west have their own cultures and traditions.

India’s culture is among the world’s oldest; civilisation in India began about 4,500 years ago. Many sources describe it as “Sa Prathama Sanskriti Vishvavara” — the first and the supreme culture in the world, according to the All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP) organization.

India is having 29 states and 7 union territories across all the directions. There are 22 languages and several religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, etc. exist in India. Whereas Hindi is the official language of India. Indian culture is famous across the world due to its diversity in music, art, dance, language, cuisine, costume, philosophy, and literature. The important characteristics of Indian Culture are civilised communication, beliefs, values, etiquette, and rituals. India is well known for its ‘Unity in Diversity’ across the world. That means India is a diverse nation where many religious people live together peacefully having their own different cultures. So, we can see people of different languages, dresses, food habits, and rituals living with unity in India.

Indian Religion has a great impact on shaping the culture and traditions of India. India has several religions that originated five thousand years ago. Hinduism originated from Vedas, so all Hindu scriptures have been scripted in the Sanskrit language. People believe that Jainism has an ancient origin and exists in the Indus valley. Whereas another religion, Buddhism originated through the teachings of Gautam Buddha in the country. There are various eras that came and gone but have not changed the influence of real culture. That is why the younger generations still follow the older generation’s culture.

Western societies did not always see the culture of India very favorably, according to Christina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London. Early anthropologists once considered culture as an evolutionary process, and “every aspect of human development was seen as driven by evolution,” she told Live Science. “In this view, societies outside of Europe or North America, or societies that did not follow the European or Western way of life, were considered primitive and culturally inferior. Essentially this included all the colonized countries and people, such as African countries, India, and the Far East.”
Indian clothing is adorable to most of the foreigners. Woman wearing a sari is a pride of a nation. These create a pleasant effect and she looks so beautiful that a major of foreign country’s female wants to be like her. The origin of the sari is from the temple dancers in ancient times. Sari allows them to maintain modesty and freedom for movement. On the other hand, men traditionally wear a dhoti and kurta. Actually, Dhoti is a type of cloth without any further attached work done on it. The great Mahatma Gandhi was very fond of it and in their dignity, most of the people used to wear the same.

However, Indian ethnic culture teaches people to care for the helpless, help poor people, and respect elders. The traditional aspect of India to greet anybody is by saying ‘Namaste’ and touching the elder’s feet. The traditional family structure in India is a joint family, where many generations stay together in one house. People in India still follow the traditional marriage concept of ‘Arranged Marriage’ where the life partner of a child will be chosen by their parents.

Apart from all the above facts, Indian is legends with arts and studious material. Shah-rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhirubhai Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan Rajnikant, Sundar Pichai are many more faces of India who are shining and representing India on a global scale. There are 20-30 grand festivals celebrated every year in which every festival pops up with history and respect to the respective religion. Even in terms of business, India is not behind. Agriculture is the best occupation of 70% of people in India. It’s our duty to protect the wonderful culture that we have got.

Art is also one of the special cultures of India. Each state of India has its own form of dancing and singing such as Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, and so forth. Moreover, Indian people welcome their guests like God by following the great Indian culture. People believe in the popular saying that ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. Therefore, humanity and spiritual practices are the roots of Indian culture.

India has 28 states and seven territories, according to the World Health Organization. There is no official language in India, according to a Gujarat High Court ruling in 2010, though Hindi is the official language of the government. The Constitution of India officially recognizes 23 official languages.

Many people living in India write in Devanagari script. In fact, it is a misconception that the majority of people in India speak Hindi. Though many people speak Hindi in India, 59 % of India residents speak something other than Hindi, according to The Times of India. Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu are some other languages spoken in the country.

Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-European language usually referred to in action movies, came from Northern India. How the language started has been a point of argument amongst linguists. It shares many similarities with English, French, Farsi and Russian languages. New DNA research in 2017 found that an Aryan invasion may have introduced the beginnings of Sanskrit. “People have been debating the arrival of the Indo-European languages in India for hundreds of years,” said study co-author Martin Richards, an archaeogeneticist at the University of Huddersfield in England. “There’s been a very long-running debate about whether the Indo-European languages were brought from migrations from outside, which is what most linguists would accept, or if they evolved indigenously.” [Aryan Invasion May Have Transformed India’s Bronze-Age Population].

Indian Culture and Tradition Essay: Indian Culture and Traditions are unique across the world. The Indian Culture and Traditions Essay elaborated on the variety of traditions and cultures followed by people in India. India is a country of having many cultures, traditions, and religions that made people living in a peaceful, colorful, rich, and diverse nation. It is unbelievable that different directions of India like north, south, east, and west have their own cultures and traditions.

India is having 29 states and 7 union territories across all the directions. There are 22 languages and several religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, etc. exist in India. Whereas Hindi is the official language of India. However, India is the oldest civilization where people still follow their old cultures of caring and humanity. Even though people became modern in today’s world, still they celebrate festivals as per the customs.

Indian culture is famous across the world due to its diversity in music, art, dance, language, cuisine, costume, philosophy, and literature. The important characteristics of Indian Culture are civilized communication, beliefs, values, etiquette, and rituals. India is well known for its ‘Unity in Diversity’ across the world. That means India is a diverse nation where many religious people live together peacefully having their own different cultures. So, we can see people of different languages, dresses, food habits, and rituals living with unity in India.

Indian Religion has a great impact on shaping the culture and traditions of India. India has several religions that originated five thousand years ago. Hinduism originated from Vedas, so all Hindu scriptures have been scripted in the Sanskrit language. People believe that Jainism has an ancient origin and exists in the Indus valley. Whereas another religion, Buddhism originated through the teachings of Gautam Buddha in the country. There are various eras that came and gone but have not changed the influence of real culture. That is why the younger generations still follow the older generation’s culture.

However, Indian ethnic culture teaches people to care for the helpless, help poor people, and respect elders. The traditional aspect of India to greet anybody is by saying ‘Namaste’ and touching the elder’s feet. The traditional family structure in India is a joint family, where many generations stay together in one house. People in India still follow the traditional marriage concept of ‘Arranged Marriage’ where the life partner of a child will be chosen by their parents.

Art is also one of the special cultures of India. Each state of India has its own form of dancing and singing such as Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, and so forth. Moreover, Indian people welcome their guests like God by following the great Indian culture. People believe in the popular saying that ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. Therefore, humanity and spiritual practices are the roots of Indian culture.

Festivals play an important role in Indian culture and tradition. People from different religions celebrate different festivals in India. Popular festivals like Diwali, Dussehra, Navratri, Janmashtami, Shivratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, etc. are celebrated by Hindu people in India. Whereas Eid-ul-Fitr, Bakrid, Muharram, etc. festivals are celebrated by Islamic people in India. Other than this, many harvest festivals like Makar Sankranti, Chapchar kut, Pongal, Sohrai, etc. are celebrated by farmers.

However, Christians also celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, etc. festivals in India. There also exist different regional festivals in each state of India like Teej, Onam, Ugadi, Saraswati Puja, Panna Sankranti, Chhath Pooja, Pongal, Lohri, and so forth.

India is identified as the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism, the third and fourth largest religions. About 84 percent of the population identifies as Hindu, according to the “Handbook of Research on Development and Religion,” edited by Matthew Clarke (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). There are many variations of Hinduism, and four predominant sects — Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya and Smarta.

About 13 percent of Indians are Muslim, making it one of the largest Islamic nations in the world. Christians and Sikhs make up a small percentage of the population, and there are even fewer Buddhists and Jains, according to the “Handbook.”

The CIA cited similar figures. According to its World Factbook, around 80 percent of the population is Hindu, 14.2 percent is Muslim, 2.3 percent is Christian, 1.7 percent is Sikh and 2 percent is unspecified.

When the Moghul Empire invaded during the sixteenth century, they left a significant mark on the Indian cuisine, according to Texas A&M University. Indian cuisine is also influenced by many other countries. It is known for its large assortment of dishes and its liberal use of herbs and spices. Cooking styles vary from region to region.

Wheat, Basmati rice and pulses with chana (Bengal gram) are important staples of the Indian diet. The food is rich with curries and spices, including ginger, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, dried hot peppers, and cinnamon, among others. Chutneys — thick condiments and spreads made from assorted fruits and vegetables such as tamarind and tomatoes and mint, cilantro and other herbs — are used generously in Indian cooking.

Many Hindus are vegetarian, but lamb and chicken are common in main dishes for non-vegetarians. The Guardian reports that between 20 percent and 40 percent of India’s population is vegetarian.

Much of Indian food is eaten with fingers or bread used as utensils. There is a wide array of breads served with meals, including naan, a leavened, oven-baked flatbread; and bhatoora, a fried, fluffy flatbread common in North India and eaten with chickpea curry.

Indian Cuisine is also equally diverse in India like festivals and religions. Indian food and eating habits differ from place to place as each state has its own particular food and eating habits. In other words, people belonging to various parts of the country have their own cuisine, living style, environment, and availability of goods. Indian cuisine is most inspirational. Different states have different cuisines. Indian foods include so many ingredients and are more influential across the world. Indian food is mainly influenced by the diversity of people, so it has a variety of rich Cuisine. North Indian food includes vegetables, roti, dal, rice, fish curry, parathas, etc. South Indian food includes dosa, sambar, idli, vada, upma, uttapam, etc. In general, South Indian people cook food using coconut oil rather than mustard or sunflower oil.

Indian Costumes are different for the different states of India. It varies depending on the origin, climate, and heritage of the place. Indian culture still follows traditional costumes. In eastern states such as Odisha, West Bengal and southern states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, women wear saree as the authentic clothing. It is a single and long fabric piece draped around the body.

In a similar way, men wear Dhoti-Kurta or Kurta-Pyjama as the authentic clothing in eastern states. In northern states like Punjab, women wear salwar kameez and Kurti as traditional clothing. Whereas men wear headgear or turban known as the Dastar as the traditional clothing. In India, all the married Women wear Sindoor, a vermilion powder in the parting of their hair. They also wear bindi, Mehendi, bangles, and earrings as part of their attire.

In the 19th century, the first literature Rigveda was created in India. It was written in Sanskrit and became the foundation of many religious scriptures and literary works laterwards. Also, the Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda written by the Aryans followed by Indians. Other famous literary works are Ramayana written by Rishi Valmiki and Mahabharata written by Rishi Vyasa in India.

The Biographies of kings like the Mughal Empire, Baburnama, and Akbarnama are also precious literature by which we can know about the era. Other than this, foreign travelers have written some scriptures like Fa Hein and Hussein Tsung which provide knowledge about Indian people’s traditions and  lifestyles.

India is a land of rich culture and tradition which teaches people kindness, generosity, and tolerance. Indian culture differs from place to place as it is a multilingual, multicultural, and multi-ethnic society. Indian culture is a unique blend of modern western culture and historical traditions. India is a country of great legends where many great people were born and remembered forever due to their sacrifice for the nation. People across the world come to enjoy and feel the culture and tradition of India.