The culture of India is one of the oldest and unique. In India, there is amazing cultural diversity throughout the country. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India is a vast country, having variety of geographical features and climatic conditions. India is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, including four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Indian Culture:
The culture of India is among the world's oldest, reaching back about 5,000 years. Many sources describe it as "Sa Prathama Sanskrati Vishvavara" — the first and the supreme culture in the world. India is a very diverse country, and different regions have their own distinct cultures. Language, religion, food and the arts are just some of the various aspects of Indian culture. Here is a brief overview of the culture of India.
Religion:
India is identified as the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism. A huge majority — 84 percent — of the population identifies as Hindu. 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.
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.
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Language:
India has 28 states and seven territories, and each has at least one official language. While the national languages are Hindi and English, there are about 22 official languages and nearly 400 living languages spoken in various parts of the country. Most of the languages of India belong to two families, Aryan and Dravidian.
Food:
Indian cuisine boasts Arab, Turkish and European influences. 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 vegetarians, but lamb and chicken are common in main dishes for non-vegetarians.
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.
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 vegetarians, but lamb and chicken are common in main dishes for non-vegetarians.
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.
Architecture:
The most well-known example of Indian architecture is the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to honor his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles. India also has many ancient temples.
Clothing:
Indian clothing is closely identified with the colorful silk saris worn by many of the country’s women. The traditional clothing for men is the dhoti, an unstitched piece of cloth about 5 yards long that is tied around the waist and legs. Men also wear a kurta, a loose shirt that is worn about knee-length. For special occasions, men wear a sherwani, which is a long coat that is buttoned up to the collar and down to the knees
Arts:
India is well known for its film industry, which is based in Mumbai and is often referred to as Bollywood. The country began as a major producer of movies in the 1930s. Today the films are known for their elaborate singing and dancing and Bollywood produces more films per year than Hollywood.
Indian dance has a tradition of more than 2,000 years. The major classical dance traditions — Bharata Natyam, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam and Kathakali — draw on themes from mythology and literature and have rigid presentation rules.
Customs and celebrations
The country celebrates Republic Day (Jan. 26), Independence Day (Aug. 15) and Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (Oct. 2). There are also a number of Hindu festival that are celebrated, including Diwali, a five-day festival known as the festival of lights and marks a time of home-based family celebrations.
Mount Everest: World's Highest Mountain :
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Reaching 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. Located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas, the mountain's summit straddles the border separating China and Nepal.
The mountain's height was first determined in 1856. The Great Trigonometric Survey of British India pegged the mountain, known to them as Peak XV, at 29,002 feet (8,840 meters). But those surveyors were at a disadvantage because Nepal would not grant them entry due to concerns that the country would be invaded or annexed. The current accepted elevation was determined by an Indian survey in 1955 and backed up by a 1975 Chinese measurement.
In 1865, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India, suggested that the mountain be named after his predecessor in the job, Sir George Everest. The Tibetans had referred to the mountain as "Chomolungma," or Holy Mother, for centuries, but Waugh did not know this because Nepal and Tibet were closed to outsiders.
Climbing Mount Everest
Mount Everest attracts experienced mountaineers as well as less-seasoned climbers who typically enlist guides known as sherpas. Climbing more than 8,000 feet is no easy feat. Altitude sickness, weather and wind are the major roadblocks to making the summit for most climbers. More than 5,000 people have climbed Everest and 219 have died trying. About 77 percent of those ascents have been accomplished since 2000. In 2007, a record number of 633 ascents were recorded.
Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet. Today, the southeast ridge route, which is technically easier, is more frequently used.
The northern approach was discovered in 1921 by George Mallory during the British Reconnaissance Expedition, which was an exploratory expedition, not intended to attempt the summit. Mallory was famously, perhaps apocryphally, quoted as answering the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the reply "Because it's there."
In 1922, Brit George Finch attempted an ascent using oxygen for the first time, but the expedition was thwarted by an avalanche.
In June 1924, Mallory and Andrew Irvine did not survive their attempt to reach to the summit. A 1999 expedition found Mallory's body.
Early expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s attempted to make the ascent from the Tibetan side but access was closed after Tibet came under Chinese control in 1950. This spurred Bill Tilman and a small party that included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles, to approach Everest through Nepal along the route that has developed into the standard approach to Everest from the south.
In 1952, members of a Swiss expedition led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, were able to reach a height of about 28,199 feet (8,595 meters) on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing Norgay, a member of this expedition and a Nepali sherpa, took part in the British expedition the following year.
In 1953, a British expedition led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 300 feet (100 meters) of the summit but were turned back due to oxygen problems. Two days later, the second pair, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit, took some pictures and left some sweets and a cross.
Life on Everest
Mount Everest is surrounded by a number of substantial peaks, including Lhotse, (27,940 feet/8,516 meters); Nuptse, (25,771 feet/7,855 meters); and Changtobse, (24,870 feet/7,580 meters).
Those higher altitudes cannot support animal life or vegetation; however, birch, juniper, blue pines, firs, bamboo and rhododendron grow in the lower areas. There are no plants above 18,690 feet (5,750 meters).
Musk deer, wild yak, red panda, snow leopard and Himalayan black bears inhabit lower altitudes. There are also small numbers of Himalayan thars, deer, langur monkeys, hares, mountain foxes, martens, and Himalayan wolves.
Mountain milestones
Other milestones among Mount Everest expeditions include:
May 20, 1965: Sherpa Nawang Gombu becomes the first person to reach the summit twice.
May 16, 1975: Junko Tabei of Japan becomes the first woman to summit Everest.
May 3, 1980: Japanese climber Yasuo Kato is the first non-Sherpa to reach the summit a second time, following his original 1973 summit.
Aug. 20, 1980: Reinhold Messner is the first person to reach the summit solo.
1996 climbing season: 16 people die while climbing on Mount Everest, the highest number of fatalities in a single year. Eight climbers die on May 10 during a storm. One of the survivors, Jon Krakauer, a journalist on assignment for "Outside" magazine, wrote the bestseller "Into Thin Air" about his experience.
May 22, 2010: Apa Sherpa, who first summitted on May 10, 1990, reaches the summit a 20th time.
The mountain's height was first determined in 1856. The Great Trigonometric Survey of British India pegged the mountain, known to them as Peak XV, at 29,002 feet (8,840 meters). But those surveyors were at a disadvantage because Nepal would not grant them entry due to concerns that the country would be invaded or annexed. The current accepted elevation was determined by an Indian survey in 1955 and backed up by a 1975 Chinese measurement.
In 1865, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India, suggested that the mountain be named after his predecessor in the job, Sir George Everest. The Tibetans had referred to the mountain as "Chomolungma," or Holy Mother, for centuries, but Waugh did not know this because Nepal and Tibet were closed to outsiders.
Climbing Mount Everest
Mount Everest attracts experienced mountaineers as well as less-seasoned climbers who typically enlist guides known as sherpas. Climbing more than 8,000 feet is no easy feat. Altitude sickness, weather and wind are the major roadblocks to making the summit for most climbers. More than 5,000 people have climbed Everest and 219 have died trying. About 77 percent of those ascents have been accomplished since 2000. In 2007, a record number of 633 ascents were recorded.
Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet. Today, the southeast ridge route, which is technically easier, is more frequently used.
The northern approach was discovered in 1921 by George Mallory during the British Reconnaissance Expedition, which was an exploratory expedition, not intended to attempt the summit. Mallory was famously, perhaps apocryphally, quoted as answering the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the reply "Because it's there."
In 1922, Brit George Finch attempted an ascent using oxygen for the first time, but the expedition was thwarted by an avalanche.
In June 1924, Mallory and Andrew Irvine did not survive their attempt to reach to the summit. A 1999 expedition found Mallory's body.
Early expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s attempted to make the ascent from the Tibetan side but access was closed after Tibet came under Chinese control in 1950. This spurred Bill Tilman and a small party that included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston and Betsy Cowles, to approach Everest through Nepal along the route that has developed into the standard approach to Everest from the south.
In 1952, members of a Swiss expedition led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, were able to reach a height of about 28,199 feet (8,595 meters) on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing Norgay, a member of this expedition and a Nepali sherpa, took part in the British expedition the following year.
In 1953, a British expedition led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 300 feet (100 meters) of the summit but were turned back due to oxygen problems. Two days later, the second pair, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit, took some pictures and left some sweets and a cross.
Life on Everest
Mount Everest is surrounded by a number of substantial peaks, including Lhotse, (27,940 feet/8,516 meters); Nuptse, (25,771 feet/7,855 meters); and Changtobse, (24,870 feet/7,580 meters).
Those higher altitudes cannot support animal life or vegetation; however, birch, juniper, blue pines, firs, bamboo and rhododendron grow in the lower areas. There are no plants above 18,690 feet (5,750 meters).
Musk deer, wild yak, red panda, snow leopard and Himalayan black bears inhabit lower altitudes. There are also small numbers of Himalayan thars, deer, langur monkeys, hares, mountain foxes, martens, and Himalayan wolves.
Mountain milestones
Other milestones among Mount Everest expeditions include:
May 20, 1965: Sherpa Nawang Gombu becomes the first person to reach the summit twice.
May 16, 1975: Junko Tabei of Japan becomes the first woman to summit Everest.
May 3, 1980: Japanese climber Yasuo Kato is the first non-Sherpa to reach the summit a second time, following his original 1973 summit.
Aug. 20, 1980: Reinhold Messner is the first person to reach the summit solo.
1996 climbing season: 16 people die while climbing on Mount Everest, the highest number of fatalities in a single year. Eight climbers die on May 10 during a storm. One of the survivors, Jon Krakauer, a journalist on assignment for "Outside" magazine, wrote the bestseller "Into Thin Air" about his experience.
May 22, 2010: Apa Sherpa, who first summitted on May 10, 1990, reaches the summit a 20th time.
Changing Values In Indian Culture:
We all know that Change is the law of nature. This law is governing almost everything in this universe and so as the Indian Culture. Over Centuries Indian Culture has influenced by a lot of changes and many of them has incorporated in this culture remaining the other features intact. These Changes are more or less like two faces of a coin. Some changes are beneficial for our society and culture, and some others are dangerous. In other words these changes have both Positive and Negative aspects
A few Centuries ago “Sati pratha” was abolished and “widow remarriage” was approved. These Changes were the major achievements of Indian Society. These changes have removed the traditions and methodologies which was a curse to all the women and humanity. These Changes were the major revolution in the Indian Society. From that time,changes have influenced a lot to the Indian Society. Now a days, there are many visible changes in our society. Some of them are:-
With technology becoming fast and easily portable people of different parts of the world are interacting together. Today they can easily know each other’s culture and tradition.So technology has made this world a smaller place and make the peoples come closer to know each other’s lifestyle and culture. Now a days people of a country are well known about the culture and tradition of other countries and so their knowledge has broaden. Peoples are becoming more independent. They are no more restricted in their own methodologies. New thinking are evolving between society.Today peoples of our country are moving to other parts of the world for higher education and learning better technology. Now a girl of our country is no more restricted to home, and a woman to a housewife.Things are changing.Girls are also getting opportunities for their better education and lifestyle, same as the boys. Old traditions and wooden customs are changing.These changes are the seeds for the better society where girls and women have the same right as the boys and men have.These changes are empowering our girls and women.In case of marriage the changes are visible.Now a days younger generation chooses their life partner themselves.Traditionally their parents used to find a marriage partner for them.Today If their parents choose a life partner for them then they allow their young ones to spend time with their life partner to understand each other and then perform the marriage ceremony.By doing this they gave their children a better chance to have a better future.So now a days young generation have freedom of choice in contrast with the old culture of Indian society where parents were solely responsible for choosing life partner for their children.A major change that can be sensed in Indian Culture is the change in Indian Cinema.We all know that cinema is the mirror of our society.It clearly reflects the culture and methodologies of our society.Few decades ago Indian cinema was only meant for entertainment.At that times films were of conservative type.But today film makers are moving to the various social issues and giving the Indian cinema a touch of perfection.Films displaying the critical and major issues like terrorism and bogus CBI has already produced.These films teach a lesson to society regarding these issues and its consequences.Also the films promoting art and music have produced over a few years.Such types of films also encourage new talents and provide new opportunities.
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