Indian Culture

The Indian culture represents to the way of life of the people of India. India's religions, languages, music, food, dance, and customs differs from place to place within the country. Indian culture is the mother of all the culture. Many constituent of India's diverse cultures, such as Yoga, Indian religions and Indian cuisine.

Respect and Revere for the elders is the key stone of the Indian culture. In India, the youngsters never using the proper names of their elders. In respect, we touch the feet of all elders. A student always touches the feet of his teacher. Purity in mind, body, speech, though, word and deed is very important for us. The concept of Zero and the primal sound of OM was given by India.

All the regions and religions of the world have their own culture with different traditions, customs and elegant qualities. This is the culture of Respect, Honouring, Etiquette, Love and humbling one’s own ego.

Religions
India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively called as Indian Religions.  India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 2 billion follower’s altogether, and possibly as many as 2.5 or 2.6 billion followers.

                                    Evening Aarti at Har Ki Paudi Ghat--Haridwar 

                                         

                                             EID Namaz at Taj Mahal-Agra            

                                       

Family structure 

India has a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is a system in which all family members live together- Parents, children, the children’s' spouses and their offspring. Generally, the oldest male member is the head in the joint Indian family system. He makes all important decisions and rules, and other family members obey their rules and regulations.

Indian marriage

Every country and every religion have their own traditions and its help to differentiate each other. Even though wedding ceremony has the same meaning in every culture, the way of celebration is different. Indian marriages start with searching the bride or groom as a part of arranged marriage. It is considered to be the most acceptable form of marriage till date in most of the communities in India. Both of families fully involved in searching the bride or the groom. Even today, the majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-members. In the past, the age of marriage was young, especially in Rajasthan, but this is rising with modernization and there are now laws which govern the age of marriage.

Hindu marriage is a sacrament and it is neither a social contract nor a legal bond. It is essentially a religious bond based on Dharma and for the fulfillment of Dharma. The homes of the bride and of the groom are decorated 5-10 days before as part of the decorations of this special day in India.

Indian Greetings

The traditional and customary way to greet people in India is the word ‘NAMSTE’ (pronounced na, ma, stay). Indians generally prefer this non-contact form of greeting to a handshake or an embrace. It can be used for everyone regardless of gender, age or social background.

Namaste is derived from Sanskrit and is a combination of two words, ‘nama’ – meaning bow or salutation – and ‘te’ – meaning ‘to you’. Namaste therefore means “I bow to you” or “I bow to the soul in you” or “I respect the divinity in you that is also within me”. It says that the life force, the divinity, is the same in all. Namaste is generally used as a greeting or salutation by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists.

Other communities such as Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis etc have their individual tradition of greeting. Sikhs use the phrase ‘Sat Sri Akal’ which roughly translates into ‘God is the ultimate truth’. 

Muslims use ‘Salaam’ or the full ‘Assalaam Aleikum’ (‘Peace be upon you’), accompanied by a gesture – sweeping your right hand up and placing it on your heart.

In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, people use ‘vanakkam’. Khasis of Meghalaya will greet you with ‘khublei’ or ‘may God bless you’.

The ‘pranaam’ is one of the very few instances of an Indian greeting when one gets physical. It is a form of salutation that involves a younger person taking the blessing of an elder. It is also done with gurus, and icons/images/idols of gods. In response, the elder places a hand over the head of the person as a way of blessing.