Know About the Rich Heritage of India

Culture of any country comprises of a set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices.

India, takes great pride in its art and culture. India’s knowledge, from as early as pre -Vedic times followed a tradition of documentation or written facts. This knowledge is documented in various "scriptures" including the Vedas, Shastras, Upanishads and Bhagwad Gita. Vedas means knowledge and when it is applied to scripture, it signifies a book of knowledge. This book is considered to be one of the oldest books. Vedas comprises of the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and the Atharveda.

After having talked about scriptures, one cannot refrain from talking about the other aspects of Indian art and culture. India has one of the world’s largest collection of songs, music, dance, theatre, folk traditions, paintings and writings. Let us have a closer look at some of them:

l Songs and Music:

Indian music include varieties of folk, popular, folk and classical music. Hindustani and Carnatic music form the classical music tradition which is believed to be thousands of years old. Other highly popular forms of Indian music include ghazal, qawwali, thumri, dadra, bhajan and gurbani.

l Dance:

Indian dance include classical dance and folk dance. Classical dance is performed in different styles and its theory can be traced back to NatyaShastra of Bharat Muni. Its various current forms include Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Manipuri, Kathakali and many more. Folk dances in India are performed on many occasions to celebrate the arrival of seasons, birth of a child, wedding and festivals. These dances burst with vitality. Bhangra is a famous form of folk dance in India.

l Paintings:

Rock paintings were the earliest paintings belonging to the pre-historic times. Some of the paintings are said to be older than 5500 BC. Famous artists of the colonial period include Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy and Amrita Shergil. Art became more diverse after Independence and artists like Maqbool Fida Hussain came into light.

l Puranas-

The Puranas are the ancient Hindu texts. They are said to narrate five subjects:

1. Sarga- the creation of the Universe
2. Pratisarga- recreation after dissolution
3. Vamsa- genealogy of Gods and sages
4. Manvantara- the creation of the human race
5. Vamsanucaritam- the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties.

Shiv puran is the Purana that is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Shiva Purana tells the story of creation of the Gods and Goddesses. Talking about the number of Puranas, there are 18 main Puranas and an equal number of sub Puranas. They are said to teach morals to the Hindu race. They are traditional stories and teachings based on the spiritual philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanishads.

Books on Puranas are easily available online. The Puranas are usually in the form of dialogues between a spiritual aspirant and an accomplished saint. They are the richest collection of mythology in the world. They were first passed on as an oral tradition in the time of Krishna. Puranas are a class of literary texts all written in Sanskrit verse although they are now available in other languages as well.

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