For times immemorial, India has remained a meeting ground between the East and the West, a treasure house of knowledge and wisdom. The Vedic culture and Vedic way of life have struck deep roots in India and are followed by people even today. Apart from the Vedas, other important scriptures composed during Vedic times include the Upanishadas (enlightening commentaries on the Vedas), the shrutis and the smritis (storehouses of heard and remembered erudition and learning).
India believes in Sarva dharma samabhava, which means respect for all belief systems. This has allowed not just tolerance towards religions and beliefs, but the freedom to propound one's ideas and philosophies.
After assimilating and nurturing an incredible diversity of people and cultures for millennia, India culture remains an object of fascination for people the world over. The objects of ethnic interest like unique Indian dresses, delectable Indian food recipes, sonorous Indian music and exotic Indian names evoke global interest on a continuous basis. More...
Religion
In India, religion is not simply a belief system but a journey of self exploration. All the major religions of the world like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity including their sects, are found and practised in India with complete freedom.
Religions have co-existed and evolved together for many centuries in the country and are very central to the lives of the people, who have a remarkable openness to even foreign religions. Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India about 2500 years ago;
Islam was spread across over a period of 700 years Zoroastrianism arrived from Iran during the 8th or 10th century while the colonial rule introduced the country to Christianity.Lord Buddha was born in India and it is from the shores of this land that Buddhism was disseminated to Sri Lanka and to Tibet.As the gods and goddesses in their myriad forms were worshipped with elaborate rituals in the country, there appeared in the 15 century a reformer who enjoined a simpler form of worship, shorn of rituals. He was Guru Nanak Dev, whose teachings and those of the nine gurus who followed later are collected in the holy book of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Christians are equally at home in India. Christian saints came to India many centuries ago and preached the doctrine of Christianity. It is believed that St Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, came to India in the first century AD, and spent the rest of his life in India preaching. His tomb, St Thomas Mount in Chennai, Tamil Nadu has become a place of pilgrimage for Christians in India. The Spanish Catholic missionary, St Francis Xavier, also spent the greater part of his life in Goa. His body, in a glass casket, has been kept in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Panjim, Goa. Every ten years, his relics are exposed to the public, and people from all over the world throng Goa to receive the benediction. More... Festivals
The tradition of celebrating festivals goes back to the Vedic period. The scriptures and works of literature of this era are replete with references to festivals. These were the celebrations in honour of gods, rivers, trees, mountains, and seasons like spring, and monsoon. These were the times for prayers and meditation, and also for spectacle and procession - occasions to express pure joy with performances comprising music, dance and drama, and conducting fairs.
The Constitution of India has guaranteed the freedom of worship and way of life to all its citizens. This has ensured the rich kaleidoscope of festivals that are celebrated throughout the country. More...
In Bengal, the worship of the Goddess Durga precedes Deepawali. While Goddess Durga is worshipped with great devotion in West Bengal,
Lord Ganesha - acknowledged as the remover of obstacles - is the central figure in the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra. characters.
Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, is the divine core in the epic Mahabharata. It was he who gave the sermon of the Bhagwat Gita (the song Celestial) to Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers during their battle with the Kauravas at Kurukshetra. This battle again epitomises the fight between the forces of evil and good. Lord Krishna is venerated all over India and there are temples dedicated to him specifically but in particular, his home ground of Vrindavan and Mathura where he lived as a boy and revealed his divinity by the miracles he wrought.More... Guru Nanak Jayanti and Baisakhi
The birth anniversaries of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last of Gurus, are very important days and are celebrated with religious fervour and devotion. Processions are taken out, the scriptures are chanted, without a break, and the Gurudwaras (Sikh temples) are illuminated.
The Indian calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian, starts in April. New Year's Day is April 13, celebrated as Baisakhi, which coincides with the harvesting of the wheat crop in Northern India, especially in Punjab. People wear new clothes, sing and dance in joy. In Eastern India, the New Year begins on April 14 and again it is a joyous occasion with singing and dancing by young men and women who don their best silken mekhalas (sarongs) and chaddars (an overwrap) and dance to the beat of the drum. This festival is known as Rangali Bihu in Assam. Holi
Then there is Holi, the festivals of colours when men, women and children drench one another with coloured water to celebrate the beauty of spring season, when flowers bloom and deck the earth.More...
The festival of Eid is celebrated at the end of a month-long fasting. Christmas, commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, transcends the barriers of faith to become an occasion for celebration of joy across the country.
There are also numerous glittering fairs held in the country. The gem in the crown is, of course, the Kumbha Mela held at Haridwar, Prayag (Allahabad), Nashik and Ujjain. Pushkar Fair and Urs at Ajmer are some other famous examples. So are the Nauchandi mela, held on the second Sunday after Holi in Meerut; and Sonepur Cattle Fair - Asia's biggest cattle fair, held on Kartik Poornima in Bihar's Sonepur, on the confluence of river Ganges and Gandak.
Throughout history, Indian languages and literature have exercised a great deal of influence on other great civilizations and intellectual development of the world at large. To know the real India, languages of different regions must be acquainted with, which can afford a great deal of information on India culture, traditions, history and folklore.
Although Hindi and English are the major languages in India, there are 22 official languages and countless other dialects. Apart from producing numerous masterpieces of literature, India has taken rapid strides for promoting all branches of education. Right from ancient times, India has enjoyed the unquestioned reputation of being the centre of excellence in education.
In the past, the Takshila University flourished in the northwest and Nalanda University in the east of India. The tradition of quality education is carried forward by modern Indian universities such as Delhi University (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Jamia Millia University, Allahabad University, Visva-Bharati University and Vanasthali Vidya Peeth, to name a few. More...
Spiritual India
The spirit of India has fascinated the world with its very mystique. Spiritual India, rich in holy places, traditions and beliefs, offers much for those seeking knowledge and awareness of the inner world.
In India, spirituality is part of everyday life. While religion is more about rituals, spirituality is more to do with one's self, or the spirit. To understand Indian spirituality, it is essential to understand the basic tenets of Hinduism.
A rich, complex and deeply symbolic religion, Hinduism is called Sanatana Dharma or the eternal truth, tradition or religion. It is the world's oldest religion or rather a way of life.
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Posted by: Pramod Agrawal <pka_ur@yahoo.com>
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