Rich and Varied Heritage
India is always remembered as a land of diverse cultures. The geographic position, climate and the extent of exposure to foreign cultures have totally influenced the traditions and culture of the different regions at different periods. The greatness of Indian culture has been in adopting the best from all the invaders and intermingling their customs and styles with the existing and this is visible in all aspects of culture.
Indian culture have always been attached to the great river systems, the watersheds of the Indus and Ganges, the Deccan plateau and South India.
Secular India is home to Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other innumerable religious traditions. Hinduism is the dominant religious faith followed by the majority of the population. Colorful traditional festivals are almost 400 that have been happening for centuries. Not a single day passes by without a festival in one region or the other. It is an occasion for men to put on a new traditional costumes and jewelery.
Traditional wears like the silk saris, cholis have fascinated many a traveler over the centuries. Men in villages are still more comfortable in traditional attire like kurtas, lungis, dhotis and pyjamas.
Indian literature, Indian poetry, Indian epic poetry Ramayana and Mahabharata, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture- everything is depicted and interpreted through religion and philosophy.
Well known classical styles of dancing on the Indian stage are Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Kathak, and Manipuri. Folk dances also contribute to the plethora of Indian dances. The common root of all classical dance forms can be traced to Natyasastra, ascribed to Sage Bharata who is believed to have lived between the 1st and 2nd Century AD
18 Indian languages with 1600 regional dialects are spoken and the linguistic lines are drawn by State boundaries Besides Hindi and English, the other popular languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Oriya, Telugu and Urdu
Indian Cuisine skill lies in the subtle blending of a variety of spices to make various delicious recipes. These spices are used as home medicines too.
A typical North-Indian meal would consist of wheat. Rice is the staple diet in South Indian food. Coconut and oil are essential ingredients in all the meal. A meal is rounded off with betel leaf which holds an assortment of digestive part.
Women are the mirrors of culture of a society. Indian women are becoming increasingly visible and successful in the professional and public sphere. Whether it is Barkha Dutt, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, they have all heralded the arrival of Indian women professionals.
Latest outsourcing of technological agility, quality, flexibility, cost control, time-to-market and competitive advantage have made India well known in the business world.
India exports software to 95 countries around the world, outsource high quality brain-power 82% of the US companies ranked India as their first choice for software outsourcing.
Source by Shobana Sridhar