There is a long history of Indian culture and this is a blend of culture of ancient races like the Aryans, the Mangols, the Dravidans and the Negroid Aboriginals. The ancient civilizations and the major religions of India like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism also contribute to Indian culture. The festivals, the clothing, the monuments, the dance forms, the cuisine, the films, the art and the architecture are considered to be the cultural symbols of the nation.

The festivals and social events like marriages are based on the Indian culture and regional culture. There are so many rituals and ceremonies followed during these times. Though some of them are region specific there are some common cultures that have spread all over India. One such culture is treating the guests as gods. Any guest entering the Indian houses are never left hungry and even if there is scarcity of food, guests are fed first before the inhabitants of the house eat.

It is an Indian culture to give undue respect to the elders of the family. The youngsters fall at the feet of the elders and get their ashirvad or blessings. During the festival times all the family members gather at their traditional houses and greet one another and spend their time together. It is an Indian culture to eat all the members of the family at a time. The food is served in plantain leaf and the men of the house eat first while ladies serve food. Wives give great respect to their husbands and the girls are treated as goddesses. Men are the breadwinner of the family while the women spend their time in kitchen and taking care of their children. Though this has changed greatly in metro cities you can see this practice still in existence in villages.

According to Indian culture, marriages are arranged by the parents most of the time and the bride comes to live with the family of the bridegroom after the marriage. The rituals and ceremonies conducted during the marriages will depend upon the religion and the region they belong to but it is a custom in most of the Hindu families to take the marriage vow before agni or homam. Thali is worn around the neck of the women as a symbol of marriage and this should not be removed at any time till husband exists.

The Indian culture of greeting one another by the words, Namaste, namaskaram, nomoskar and vanakkam shows the humbleness of people. Animal sacrifice is in many places in India but cows are considered to be the holy symbols and they are treated at par with the deities. It is the Indian culture to wear saris and dhotis. Salwars, chudithars and pavadai are worn by girls. Keeping bindi and kumkumam on the forehead is essential for Hindu girls. This is considered to be an auspicious symbol.

Indian art, cave temples, sculptors, dances like bharatnatyam, odissi and kathakali, music forms like Carnatic music, Hindustani music and raagam, thaalam and pallavi, architecture, Indian martial arts like kalari, silambam, kabadi, yoga, ayurvedic massage are all considered to be the symbols of Indian culture.

Article Posted By : Sumazla  On November 24, 2011lView All Articles

Suhaina Mazhar is a freelance content writer and blogger with five years experience in content writing. http://sumazla.blogspot.com is her blog.

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Keywords :
indian culture , indian cultural symbols , culture of india , cultural symbols of india