Culture is a principal mechanism to explore and integrate the national identity of India which truly and certainly pluralistic. The culture of India is about how people maintain their lifestyle. It was evident that India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs changed from place to place within the country. India's history and culture are dynamic, spanning back to the beginning of human civilization. It begins with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southern lands of India. Available evidence suggests that the use of iron, copper, and other metals was widely prevalent in the Indian sub-continent at a fairly early period, which is indicative of the progress that this part of the world had made.
The Indian culture, often labeled as the incorporation of several cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced by ancient history where many rulers dominated and altered its art and architecture. Many features of India's diverse cultures, such as Indian religions, Indian philosophy, and Indian cuisine(भोजन), have had a weighty impact across the world.
Ancient India:
The History of India originates from the Indus Valley Civilization and the coming of the Aryans. These two periods are generally defined as the pre-Vedic and Vedic periods. The Indus River Civilization dates back to 2300 – 1750 BC and had two main cities; Harappa in western Punjab and Mohenjo-Daro on the lower Indus in Sindh.
The Indus Valley Civilization:
The History of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization, more precisely known as Harappan Civilization. It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, what today is Pakistan and Western India. The Indus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China. the Archaeological Department of India carried out excavations(खुदाई) in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed. The ruins of buildings and other things like household articles, weapons of war, gold and silver ornaments, seals, toys, pottery wares, etc., show that some four to five thousand years ago a highly developed Civilization flourished in this region.
When discussing architecture, The Harappa and Mohanjo Daro sites display the great architecture patters of the time. The Houses were made of baked bricks, the drains and bathrooms were also laid down by bricks. The houses were double-Storey with the ground floor made of bricks and the upper Storey of wood. It was found in the literature that there were cultural relationships of Indus valley civilization with other communities like similar items are found in Mesopotamia.
The Indus valley civilization was basically an urban civilization and the people lived in well-planned and well-built towns, which were also the centers for trade. The ruins of Mohenjodaro and Harappa show that these were magnificent merchant cities-well planned, scientifically laid, and well looked after. The highly civilized Harappans knew the art of growing cereals, and wheat and barley constituted their staple food. They consumed vegetables and fruits and ate mutton, pork, and eggs as well. Evidence also shows that they wore cotton as well as woolen garments. By 1500 BC, the Harappan culture came to an end. Among various causes ascribed to the decay of Indus Valley Civilization are the recurrent floods and other natural causes like earthquakes, etc.
Vedic Civilization:
The Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in the history of ancient India. It is named after the Vedas, the early literature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along the river Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Rig Veda is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C. It was noted that The Vedas are the most primitive fabricated literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization. It entails mostly mantras or prayers and summons in praise of various Aryan gods. The core message of the Vedas is to control the social, legal, domestic, and religious traditions of the Hindus which are exactly followed to the present day. All the customs of Hindus conducted upon birth, marriage, death, etc. are based upon Vedic principles and they are being followed from time immemorial.
The Buddhist Era:
Buddha was born in BC 560 and died at the age of eighty in BC 480. Buddha, whose original name was Siddhartha Gautama, was the founder of Buddhism, the religion and the philosophical system that evolved into a great culture throughout much of southern and eastern Asia. In 6th Century B.C, two major religions emerged such as Jainism and Buddhism. They transmitted the messages of Truth, Non-violence. They advocated for religion as a personal matter of an individual and exhibited reflection on the daily conduct of life. Their message was for ethical values and they believed in love, freedom, and equality for all human beings. But people have divided into a class system the oppression of the priests became prone to their teachings and a large number of people among the middle class and kings changed to Buddhism, and Jainism was mostly followed by the richer merchant class. With respect to the development of Architecture, from Indus Valley Civilization until the period of Maurya, there were no traces of architectural leftover and have to depend upon the literature and make an assumption.
The Mauryan Empire:
The period of the Mauryan Empire (322 BC-185 BC) marked a new epoch in the history of India. A period when politics, art, trade, and commerce elevated India to a glorious height. It was a period of unification of the territories which lay as fragmented kingdoms. Moreover, Indian contact with the outside world was established effectively during this period.
The confusion following the death of Alexander gave Chandragupta Maurya an opportunity to liberate the countries from the yoke of the Greeks, and thus occupy the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. He later overthrew the power of Nandas at Magadha with the aid of Kautilya and founded a glorious Mauryan empire in 322 BC. Chandragupta, who ruled from 324 to 301 BC, thus, earned the title of liberator and the first emperor of Bharata.
At a higher age, Chandragupta got interested in religion and left his throne to his son Bindusar in 301 BC. Bindusar conquered the Highland of Deccan during his reign of 28 years and gave his throne to his son Ashoka in 273 BC. Ashoka emerged not only as of the most famous king of the Maurya dynasty but is also regarded as one of the greatest kings of India and the world. The most important event of Ashoka's reign was the conquest of Kalinga (modern Odisha) which proved to be the turning point of his life. The sufferings and atrocities of the battlefield lacerated the heart of Ashoka. He made a resolve not to wage war any more. He realized the wickedness of Worldly conquest and the beauty of moral and spiritual triumph. He was drawn to the teachings of Buddha and devoted his life to the conquest of men's hearts by the law of duty or piety. He evolved a policy of Dharma Vijaya, 'Conquest by Piety'.
The pillars of Asoka’s period were regarded as a marvelous piece of work in Indian art history as they embodied bold designing, technical skills, and expressive symbolism. During this era, there was the renewal of the Sanskrit language and the great epics. The pillars and stupas of that time portrayed the reincarnation(पुनर्जन्म) stories of Buddha and were illustrated as scenes on them. The use of stone in architecture began in Maurya’s rule. He established monuments, pillars, and stupas engraved with the teachings of the Master (Buddha). Ashoka was responsible for the construction of several stupas, which were large halls, capped with domes and bore symbols of Buddha.
Gupta Dynasty:
The Gupta period has been described as the Golden Age of Indian history. The first famous king of the Gupta dynasty was Ghatotkacha's son Chandragupta I. Samudragupta's successor Chandragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya, conquered the extensive territories of Malwa, Gujarat, and Kathiawar. This provided exceptional wealth, which added to the prosperity of the Guptas. It was most probably during his reign that Kalidas, the greatest Sanskrit poet, and dramatist, as well as many other scientists and scholars, flourished.
The Gupta regime saw the development and rise of a pivotal period in the form of a temple as a Hindu sense of “House of God”. The Vishnu temple in Jabalpur district, Siva temple at Bhumara in Negod, Parvati temple at Nachna in Ajaigah, the temple of Siva at Deogarh in the Jhansi district and nine rock-cut asylums in Gupta tradition at Udayagiri in Bhopal are the examples of fine architecture of the time. In Gupta administration, dancing became basic elements in upper-class culture, and dancing at courts was a common feature. The history showed that some of the rulers of the Gupta regime were musicians themselves.
Muslim Era:
Mahmud invaded the region in 1000 A.D. from Ghazni and demolished the worship style and wealth of the area and as a result, the Hindu domain disappeared from most of Punjab. Mughal Empire lasted from 1526 to 1858. The Muslims who supported for one God and the equality of all men, their simplicity and disapproval of caste system, polytheism, worship, and ritualism became popular in the masses and most of the Hindus embraced Islam for the true faith, sincerity, and purity of life which symbolized from the life of the Muslims.
But at the same time, there were Muslim writers and poets (Muslim Sufi order) who along with their Islamic traditions brought assimilation with Hinduism and the rulers offered Hindus the jobs in bureaucracy and in Army too, without compromising in the supremacy of Islam. Hindu music, art, and dance were given space at the courts and Hindu motifs got blended with Islamic art.
The Muslim architecture of the time was dominated by carving and paintings of text from the Holy Book “Quran” and Arabic and Persian floral and geometric motifs are found on the sites of Muslim architectures. Agra Fort and Moti Masjid near Delhi, Taj Mahal at Agra, and Badshahi Mosque at Lahore are the fine examples of Muslim architecture. The style of painting in their rule is known as “miniature” which was primarily done on the delicate palm tree leaves till the introduction of paper in the country in 1400, which then became the most popular material for paintings. The supremacy of Jehangir was also considered as the Golden age of Mughal painting, the portraits of emperors, members of royal families, holy men, saints, soldiers, and dancing girls were depicted by the artists in the paintings.
In Akbar’s court, there was a total of 38 masters of music as stated in Ain I Akbari and Dhrupad was the most favored melody sung mostly by Swami Hari Dass at Akbar’s court. Tansen played Rabab a musical instrument of that time and Amir Khusrau uses to play Sitar. Tabla and Shehnai were other popular musical instruments in later years of Mughal rule. The artists, writers, poets, thinkers, scholars from all over Asia came to their courts. It was a period of Indo-Islamic culmination of appearance and magnificence in arts (music, painting, crafts, and architecture) and culture.
British Era:
In the period of 1700 – 1900, The Europeans came to India from the route of the sea. These were the Portuguese traders, then subsequently came the British, the French, and the Dutch. All these invaders brought with them the elements of western cultures into the art and ways of living of the people of the country. The Portuguese initiated the revival of glitzy art and the French introduced their tastes in the decorations of palaces and houses. The British brought with them the Britain style of architecture and also influenced their modes in paintings and sculptures to such an extent that the Indian mind became alien to their own inheritance. In Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, there is a clear picture of the British impact on Indian architecture. Apart from these architectural leftovers, the colonial state also left behind a uniform system of government, a system of education based on Western ideas, science, and philosophies. Modern literature in Indian languages were all profoundly influenced by the spread of English education and through it India’s intimate contact with the ideas and institutions of the West.
The salient aspects of Art Forms in India:
It is documented that India has a rich and ancient history. Since ancient times there has been an amalgamation of indigenous and foreign influences that have shaped the course of the arts of India, and subsequently, the rest of Asia. Arts is defined as paintings, architecture, literature, music, dance, languages, and cinema. In early India, most of the arts were derived from Vedic influences.
=> Ancient Indian art:
It is analyzed that each era is exclusive in its idiosyncratic culture. In ancient India, various art forms like paintings, architecture, and sculpture evolved. After the birth of current Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, arts thrived with the support of emperors. In the era of Islam, new forms of Indian architecture and art were visible. Finally, the British brought their own Gothic and Roman influences and attached it with the Indian style.
The Buddhists introduced the rock-cut caves, Hindus and Jains started them at Badami, Aihole, Ellora, Salsette, Elephanta, Aurangabad, and Mahabalipuram. Fairs, festivals, and local deities also have a significant role in the development of these art forms. The tribal arts of India have a unique sensitivity, as the tribal people possess an intense awareness very different from the settled and urbanized people. Their minds are flexible and intense with myth, legends, and snippets from epic, multitudinous gods born.
Architecture:
The greatest achievements of Indian civilization is unquestionably its architecture which was the outcome of the socio-economic and geographical condition. The earliest production in the Indus Valley Civilization was characterized by well-planned cities and houses where religion did not seem to play an active role. The Buddhist period is mainly represented by three important building types- the Chaitya Hall (place of worship), the Vihara (monastery), and the Stupa (hemispherical mound for worship/ memory) - exemplified by the awesome caves of Ajanta and Ellora and the monumental Sanchi Stupa. the Dravidian style and or the Indo-Aryan style of temple architecture emerged as prevailing modes, epitomized in productions such as the magnificent Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur, and the Sun Temple, Konark. The Kailasanatha temple at Ellora is the best illustration of the former, excavated from top to bottom out of a massive rock face. Among them, such as the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, the concentric enclosures along with the series of entrance gateways reducing in scale as they move towards the Garbha-Griha set up a rhythm of solids and voids as well as providing a ritual and visual axis. The principles of temple architecture were organized in treatises and canons such as Manasara, Mayamatam, and Vaastu Shastra.
With the arrival of Islam emperors, the arch and dome began to be used and the mosque or masjid too began to form part of the landscape, adding to a new experience in form and space. Popular architectural buildings are the Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur, and the Taj Mahal, Agra, the latter renowned for its attractiveness in white marble, its minarets, and it’s setting.
Literature:
Indian literature is generally recognized, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. India has 22 officially recognized languages, and a large form of literature has been produced in these languages over the years. Sanskrit literature has a special place in Indian civilization. The two major one of the oldest literature Ramayana(Valmiki) and Mahabharatha(Ved Vyas), and Abhigyanashakuntalam, Meghadutam by Kalidasa, are the best examples. The Mahabharata contains the famous Bhagavad Gita which contains the spirit of divine wisdom and is truly a universal gospel. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and Dharmasutras are all written in Sanskrit.
Hindu literary traditions govern a large part of Indian culture. The Vedas are the earliest known literature in India. The Vedas were written in Sanskrit and were handed down orally from one generation to the other. There are four Vedas, namely, the- Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda consists of the Brahmanas, the Upanishads, and the Aranyakas. The Rig Veda, Sama Veda, and the Yajur Veda are collectively known as Taraji. In later years the Atharva Veda was incorporated in this group. The Rig Veda is the original of the Vedas. It is a collection of 1028 hymns in Vedic Sanskrit. Some of the famous rishis during that period were Vasistha, Gautama, Gritasamada, Vamadeva, Vishvamitra, and Atri.
> Yajur entails sacrifice or worship. This Veda is related to resources and mantras of different sacrifices. It gives directions for the performance of the yajnas. It has both poetic and prose versions. Being a treatise on rituals, it is the most popular of the four Vedas. There are two major categories of Yajur Veda, namely Shukla and Krishna Yajur Veda i.e. Vajasaneyi Samhita and Taitriya Samhita. This text replicates the social and religious conditions of India at that time.
> Sama means tune or songs. This Veda comprises of 6,000 ragas and musical notes. Out of total 1875 verses, only 75 are original and others are from the Rig Veda. It may be called the book of Chants (Saman). This book is evidence of the development of Indian music during this period.
> The Atharva Veda is also recognized as the Brahma Veda. It contains treatment for 99 diseases. The source of this Veda is traced to two rishis called Atharvah and Angiras. The Atharva Veda has great value as it signifies the religious ideas at an ancient time of civilization. It has two categories, the Paippalada and the Saunaka. This book gives detailed information about the family, social, and political life of the later Vedic period.
Devotional Hindu drama, poetry, and songs span the subcontinent. Among the popular are the works of Kalidasa (Shakuntala) and Tulsidas (Raamcharitmaanas). Tamil literature has been in existence for more than 2500 years. Tolkaappiyam has been attributed as its oldest work, whereas the exact origins of Thirukkural are unknown. The classic works of this period are Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai, and Sivakasinthamani. Thirukkural is considered to be the greatest of Tamil works. Kannada literature is perhaps the third oldest in Indian literature next to Sanskrit literature and Tamil literature. The first available literary in Kannada is Kavirajamarga, written in the eighth century by Amoghavarsha Nrpatunga. Hindi literature started as religious and philosophical poetry in medieval periods in dialects like Avadhi and Brij. The most famous personalities during this era were Kabir, Tulsidas, and Meerabai.
The era of Indian modern literature began in the late nineteenth century. In modern times Swami Vivekananda, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, and many others used the text to help motivate the Indian independence movement. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, etc rank among the world's best literary personalities.
Some of the prominent modern writers in Indian languages include Premchand, Ageyeya in Hindi; Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay in Bengali; Amrita Pritam in Punjabi; Ali Sardar Jafri, Firaq Gorakhpuri and Josh Malihabadi in Urdu; Shiv Shankar Pillai, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Malayattor Ramakrishnan in Malayalam; Subramaniya Bharati in Tamil; Gobind Triumbak Deshpande in Marathi; and Tara Shankar Joshi in Gujarati.
Conclusion:
To summarize, the art of India is principled in nature with strong traces of different cultures and civilizations in it. History of Indian literature evolved as a wholesome domain through the Hindu literature like Ramayana and Mahabharata, treatises such as Vaastu Shastra in architecture and town planning and Arthashastra by Kautilya, making political science and involvement in politics household in ancient India. In brief, Vedas provide education (Siksha), grammar (Vyakarana), ritual (Kalpa), etymology (Nirukta), metrics (Chhanda), and astronomy (Jyotisha). In architecture, as in all other visual arts, there is a search for identity. In Indian architecture, government buildings of India, which are actually intended to display the nation's identity, are a complete distortion. During Indus Valley Civilization, there were well-planned cities. Buddhist and Jaina Architecture represented three important building types- the Chaitya Hall (place of worship), the Vihara (monastery), and the Stupa.
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