Art and Culture of India

INDIAN CULTURE

• 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 North-East have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own culture niche.
• There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India is a home to some of the most ancient civilization including four major world religions i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
• Indian cultural history has been derived by the absorbing customs, traditions and rituals from both invaders and immigrants. Many Indian customs, cultural practices and languages are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.
• With the following invasions of the Islamic rulers, the culture of India was heavily influenced by Persian, Arabic, Turkish culture. 5000 years old Indian culture is both ancient and varied. Also unity in diversity, which is the main mantra of Indian civilization can be seen if anyone monitors its various art forms and traditional diversity.
  

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reason, values, knowledge, reality and existence.

According to a traditional principal of classification, most likely adopted by orthodox Hindu thinkers, the schools or systems of Indian philosophy are divided into two broad classes, namely orthodox (astika) and heterodox (nastika).

PHILOSOPHY

• The 1st group belong to the 6 chief philosophical systems (popularly known as sad darsana), namely Mimamsa, Vedanta, Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisesika. These are regarded as orthodox (astika), not because they believe in God, but because they accept the authority of the Vedas.
• Under the other class of heterodox systems, the chief 3 are the schools of materialists like Charvaka, the Buddhas and the Jainas. They are called heterodox (nastika) because they do not believe in the authority of Vedas. Astika schools of Indian system of philosophy are as follows

INDIAN MUSIC

• It includes multiple varieties of folk, popular pop, classical music and R and B. India's classical music tradition including Carnetic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras.
• The Indian music is of 2 types namely Marga-Sangit (mystical) and Desi sangit (secular). Indian music is divided into ragas or melody types.

RAGAS

• The gamut of several note woven into a composition may be called a raga. The ragas can be sung without any instrumental accompaniment, but generally take tabla (drum) for the purpose besides any stinged instrument. They are sung at particular seasons and time of the day or night.
• Indian classical music consists of 6 principle ragas and 30 raginis. Music is adapted to the season of the year, hours of the day and mood of the performer. The Indian year is divided into 6 seasons and each season has its own raga. The principle ragas are Bhairav, Hindol, Megha, Sriraga, Deepak and Malkaus.

HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC

• It is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the Northern Indian subcontinent.
• The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical music or Shastriya Sangeet. It is a tradition that originated in Vedic ritual chants and has been evolving since, the 12th century CE.
  

CARNATIC MUSIC

• It is asystem of music commonly associated with the Southern part of the Indian sub-continent, with its area roughly confined to 4 modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung and even played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in Gayaki (singing) style.
• Carnatic music was mainly patronised by the local kings of the kingdom of Mysore and Kingdom of Travancore in the 18th through 20th centuries.
  

INDIAN DANCE FORMS

• Dancing is one of the most ancient arts in Indian culture. Form as early as the Vedic times, it eastablished its root in the Indian soil, being deeply associated with religious rites, representing the supposed performances of the Gods and Goddesses themselves and maintaining the divine and spiritiual concepts of the race.
• The religious purpose being diverse, the styles of dance were equally varied. Classical dances in India, Folk dances in India, tribal dances in India.

CLASSICAL DANCES OF INDIA, KATHAK

Kathak dance is basically from Uttar Pradesh. This North Indian dance form is inextricably bound with classical Hindustani music and the rhythmic nimbleness of the feet is accompanied by the tabla or pakhawaj. Traditionally, the stories were of Radha and Krishna, in the Natwari style (as it was then called), but the Mughal invasion of North India has a serious impact on the dance. The dance was taken to Muslim courts and thus, it became more entertaining and less religious in content. More emphasis was laid on nritta, the pure aspect and less on abhinaya.

BHARATNATYAM

• Bharatnatyam, whose antiquity is well eastablished, is the most popular of Indian classical dances, which said to be originated in Thanjavor (Tanjore) of Tamil Nadu. Bharatnatyam is the purest form of classical dance.
• These 3 concepts comes into play in Bharatnatyam-Bhava, Raga and Thaala.
• Bharatnatyam dance has been handed down through the centuries by dance teachers (or gurus) called nattuwanars and the temple dancers, called devadasis.
  

KATHAKALI

• Kathakali classical dance of Kerala owes its transnational fame to the nearly 300 years of existence.
• Kathakali literally means story-play and is an elaborate dance depicting the victory of truth over falsehood. Themes revolve around the two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
  

KUCHIPUDI

• Kuchipudi, one of the art forms of the South India had its origin in Andhra Pradesh. Actors sing and dance and the style is a blend of folk and classical. Lyrics used in Kuchipudi are usually in Telugu, though Sanskrit verses are also not uncommon.
• Kuchipudi dance-dramas, each present a particuar episode or a series of episodes. A solo recital, on the other hand, typically consists of such items as the sabdam, 'bhama kalpam', the dancer has enormous scope for the dramatisation of characters.
  

ODISSI

• In Orissa, Odissi is the traditional dance and probably owes its origin to the temple dances of the Devadasis. The Odissi dancers use their head, bust and torsoin soft flowing movements to express specific moods and emotions.
• The history of Odissi dates back to somewhere between the 8th and 11th century, when  the kings took great pride in excelling in the arts of dance and music. Jayadeva's Geeta-Govinda, the Bible of an Odissi dancer, written in the 12th century, has stupendous influence on the arts of Orissa.
  

MANIPURI

• It is the classical dance from the Manipur region in the North-East. Slow and gracious movements differentiate Manipuri from other dance styles. The delicate arm movements and gentle foot work characterise this dance.
• The repertoire is dominated by the themes from the Vishnu Puranas, Bhagvata Puranas and Geeta Govinda. Manipuri dance is very much religious and associated to Vaishnav cult of Hinduism.
  

SATTRIYA

• The Sattriya dance form was introduced in the AD 15th century by the great Vaishnava saint and reformer of Assam, Mahapurusha Sankaradeva.
• This dance and drama has been for centuries, nurtured and preserved with great commitment by Sattras i.e. Vashanava maths or monasteries.
• Sankaradeva introduced this dance form by incorporating different elements from various treatises local folk dances.