CULTURE AND HISTORY

CULTURE OF INDIA

A dancer performing KATHAK, one of the eight major Indian classical dances. Originated during 11th century B.C. VEDIC AGE, Kathak is a Hindu mythology storytelling style and encompasses several forms of Hindu mudras.

The culture of India has been shaped not only by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages, which were formed during the Indus Valley Civilization and evolved further during the Vedic age, rise and decline of Buddhism, the Golden age, invasions from Central Asia, European colonization and the Indian independence movement.

India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.

Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8,000 BC and has a continuous recorded history for over 2,500 years. Several elements of India's diverse culture — such as dhármic religions, yóga and curry — have had a profound impact across the world.

RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY

Close-up of a statue depictingMaitreya at the Thikse Monastery in Ladakh, India. Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, are indigenous to India.

India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian Religions. Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions are a major form of world religions along with Abrahamicones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with around 1.4 billion followers altogether.

India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion still plays a central and definitive role in the life of most of its people.

The religion of 80% of the people is Hinduism. Islam is practiced by around 13% of all Indians. Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism,Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism andagnostics also have visible influence along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people.

Society

 

According to Eugene M. Makar, traditional Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society. This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and spirits have an integral and functional role in determining their life.Several differences such as religion divide the culture. However, a far more powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and polluting occupations. Strict social taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years. In recent years, particularly in cities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even disappeared.Important family relations extend as far as gotra, the mainly patrilinear lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth. In rural areas & sometimes in urban areas as well, it is common that three or four generations of the family live under the same roof. The patriarch often resolves family issues.

Family

A bride during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding ceremony.

Family plays a significant role in the Indian culture. For generations, India has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is a system under which extended members of a family - parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. - live together. Usually, the eldest male member is the head in the joint Indian family system. He makes all important decisions and rules, and other family members abide by them.

Marriage

 

For centuries, arranged marriages have been the tradition in Indian society. Even today, the vast majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-members, with the consent of the bride and groom. Arranged matches are made after taking into account factors such as age, height, personal values and tastes, the backgrounds of their families (wealth, social standing) and their castes and the astrological compatibility of the couples' horoscopes.

In India, the marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low — 1.1% compared with about 50% in the United States. The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce rate. The divorce rates have risen significantly in recent years:

"Opinion is divided over what the phenomenon means: for traditionalists the rising numbers portend the breakdown of society while, for some modernists, they speak of a healthy new empowerment for women."

Animals

 

Cows depicted in the decorated goppuram of theKapaleeshwarar temple inChennai.

The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture. Common name for wilderness in India is Jungle which was adopted by the British colonialists to the English language. The word has been also made famous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as thePanchatantra and the Jataka tales.

In Hinduism, the cow is regarded as a symbol of ahimsa (non-violence),mother goddess and bringer of good fortune and wealth. For this reason, cows are revered in Hindu culture and feeding a cow is seen as an act of worship.

Namaste

 

Namaste, Namaskar or Namaskaram or Vannakam is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Namaskar is considered a slightly more formal version than namaste but both express deep respect. It is commonly used in India and Nepal by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and many continue to use this outside the Indian subcontinent. In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbal communication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made usually wordlessly upon departure. Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and respect, and (te): "to you".

Festivals

 

Radha and gopikas celebrating Holi, known as the "festival of colors".

India, being a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. The three national holidays in India, the Independence Day, the Republic Day and theGandhi Jayanti, are celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm across India. In addition, many states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of NavratriDiwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga puja, Holi, Rakshabandhan andDussehra. Several harvest festivals, such as Sankranthi, Pongaland Onam,"Nuakhai" are also fairly popular.

Certain festivals in India are celebrated by multiple religions. Notable examples include Diwali, which is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, and Buddh Purnima, celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus. Islamic festivals, such Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan, are celebrated by Muslims across India. Sikh Festivals , such as Guru Nanak Jayanti, Baiskhi are celebrated with full fanfare by Sikhs and hindu. Adding colors to the culture of India, the Dree Festival is one of the tribal festivals of India celebrated by the Apatanis of the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh, which is the easternmost state of India.

Names and language

 

Indian names are based on a variety of systems and naming conventions, which vary from region to region. Names are also influenced by religion and caste and may come from the Indian epics. India's population speaks a wide variety of languages.

Cuisine

Chicken tikka, a popular tandoor dish.

The multiple varieties of Indian cuisine are characterized by their sophisticated and subtle use of many spices and herbs. Each family of this cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. Though a significant portion of Indian food is vegetarian, many traditional Indian dishes also includechicken, goat, lamb, fish, and other meats.

Food is an important part of Indian culture, playing a role in everyday life as well as in festivals. Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the country. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split into five categories —northern, southern, eastern, western and north-eastern.

Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge. Varied uses of spices are an integral part of food preparation, and are used to enhance the flavor of a dish and create unique flavors and aromas. Cuisine across India has also been influenced by various cultural groups that entered India throughout history, such as thePersians, Mughals, and European colonists. Though the tandoor originated in Central Asia, Indian tandoori dishes, such as chicken tikka made with Indian ingredients, enjoy widespread popularity.

Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. Historically, Indian spices and herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities. The spice trade between India and Europe led to the rise and dominance of Arab traders to such an extent that European explorers, such as Vasco da Gama andChristopher Columbus, set out to find new trade routes with India leading to the Age of Discovery.The popularity of curry, which originated in India, across Asia has often led to the dish being labeled as the "pan-Asian" dish.

Clothing

Indian women wearing sari. Consisting of three parts — a blouse, a petticoat and a long cloth — the sari is worn by women all over India.

Traditional clothing in India greatly varies across different parts of the country and is influenced immensely by local culture, geography and climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women andkurta-pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.

In India, a person's social status is perceived to be symbolized by his or her attire. Indian dress etiquette discourages exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes. Most Indian clothes are made from cotton which is ideal for the region's hot weather. Since India's weather is mostly hot and rainy, majority of Indians wear sandals.

Worn by women on their forehead, the bindi is considered to be a highly auspicious mark in Hindu religion. Traditionally, the red bindi (or sindoor) was worn only by the married Hindu women, but now it has become a part of women's fashion. Some Indian traditions consider the bindi to be representative of the third eye.

India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of the country's history. Ancient Vedic texts mention clothes made from barks and leaves (known as phataka). The 11th century B.C. Rig-veda mentions dyed and embroidered garments (known as paridhan and pesas respectively) and thus highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during the Vedic age. In 5th century B.C., Greek historian Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of Indian cotton clothes. By 2nd century A.D., muslins manufactured in southern India were imported by the Roman Empire and silk cloth was one of the major exports of ancient India along with Indian spices. Stitched clothing in India was developed before 10th century A.D. and was further popularized in 15th century by Muslim empires in India. Draped clothing styles remained popular with India's Hindu population while the Muslims increasingly adopted tailored garments.

During the British Raj, India's large clothing and handicrafts industry was left paralyzed so as to make place for British industrial cloth. Consequently, Indian independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi successfully advocated for what he termed as khadi clothing — light colored hand-woven clothes — so as to decrease reliance of the Indian people on British industrial goods. The 1980s was marked by a widespread modification to Indian clothing fashions which was characterized by a large-scale growth of fashion schools in India, increasing involvement of women in the fashion industry and changing Indian attitudes towards multiculturalism. These developments played a pivotal role in the fusion of Indian and Western clothing styles.

Languages and literature

H istory

Rabindranath Tagore, a prominent Bengali novelist and poet and Asia's first Nobel laureate.

With its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BCE, the RigvedicSanskrit is one of the oldest attestations of any Indo-Iranian language, and one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family, the family which includes English and most European languages. Sanskrit has had a profound impact on the languages and literature of India.Hindi, India's most spoken language, is a "Sanskritized register" of theKhariboli dialect. In addition, all modern Indo-Aryan languages, Munda languages and Dravidian languages, have borrowed many words either directly from Sanskrit (tatsama words), or indirectly via middle Indo-Aryan languages (tadbhava words). Words originating in Sanskrit are estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages, and the literary forms of (Dravidian) Telugu,Malayalam and Kannada. Part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the Bengali language arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages and its roots are traced to the 5th century BC Ardhamagadhilanguage.

Tamil, one of India's major classical languages, descends from Proto-Dravidian languages which was spoken around the third millennium BC in peninsular India. Tamil literature has existed for over two thousand years and the earliest epigraphic records found date from around the third century BCE. Another major Dravidian language, Kannada is attested epigraphically from the mid-1st millennium CE, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 9th to 10th century Rashtrakuta Dynasty. Pre-old Kannada (or Purava HaleGannada) was the language of Banavasi in the early Common Era, the Satavahana and Kadamba periods and hence has a history of over 2000 years. The Ashoka rock edict found at Brahmagiri (dated to 230 BC) has been suggested to contain a word in identifiable Kannada.

According to 2001 India census, Hindi is the most spoken language in India, followed by Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil. In contemporary Indian literature, there are two major literary awards; these are the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and the Jnanpith Award. Seven Jnanpith awards each have been awarded in Kannada, six in Hindi, five in Bengali, four in Malayalam, three each in Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu andOriya.

Poetry

Illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra. With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is one of the longest epic poems in the world.

India has strong traditions of poetry ever since the ancientRigveda (ṛgvedá), as well as prose compositions dating back to the Vedic civilization. Poetry is often closely related to musical traditions, and much of poetry can be attributed to religious movements. Writers and philosophers were often also skilled poets.

Throughout India's history, poetry has not only served spirituality and social reform goals, but has also served as a non-violent tool of nationalism and freedom. These traditions can be traced back to influential medieval Indian poets such as Basaveshwara (vachanas) ,Kabīra and Purandara Dāsa (padas and devaranamas). Examples of influential poets during the modern era include Rabindranath Tagore,Kuvempu and K. S. Narasimhaswamy.

Epics

The Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata are the oldest preserved and well-known epics of India. Versions have been adopted as the epics of Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500cantos (sargas), and tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu preserver-god Vishnu), whose wife Sita is abducted by the demonking of Lanka, Ravana. This epic played a pivotal role in establishing the role of dhárma as a principal ideal guiding force for Hindu way of life.The earliest parts of the Mahabharata text date to 400 BCE and is estimated to have reached its final form by the early Gupta period (ca. 4th c. CE). Other regional variations of these, as well as unrelated epics include the Tamil Ramavataram, Kannada Pampa Bharata, HindiRamacharitamanasa, and Malayalam Adhyathmaramayanam.

In addition to these two great Indian epics, there are four major epics in the classical Tamil language — Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Civaka-cintamani, and Kundalakesi.

Performing arts

 

Dance

A kuchipudi performer from Andhra Pradesh.

Indian dance too has diverse folk andclassical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, thechhau of Jharkhand and Orissa, theghoomar of Rajasthan, the dandiyaand garba of Gujarat, the Yakshaganaof Karnataka and lavani ofMaharashtra and Dekhnni of Goa. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythologicalelements, have been accordedclassical dance status by India'sNational Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyamof the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak ofUttar Pradesh, kathakali andmohiniattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri ofManipur, odissi of the state of Orissa and the sattriya of Assam.

Drama and theater

Indian drama and theater has a long history alongside its music and dance. Kalidasa's plays like Shakuntala and Meghadoota are some of the older plays, following those of Bhasa. One of the oldest surviving theatre traditions of the world is the 2,000 year old Kutiyattam of Kerala. It strictly follows the Natya Shastra. Nātyāchārya Māni Mādhava Chākyār is credited for reviving the age old drama tradition from extinction. He was known for mastery of Rasa Abhinaya. He started to perform the Kalidasa plays like Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya andMālavikāgnimitra; Bhasa's Swapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra;Harsha's Nagananda.

 

 

Music

The music of India includes multiple varieties of religious, folk, popular,pop, and classical music. The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda that are still sung in certain Vedic Śrauta sacrifices. India's classical music tradition is heavily influenced by Hindu texts. It includes two distinct styles: Carnatic andHindustani music.

Panchavadyam temple music in Kerala.

The earliest account of Indian musical hymns is found in the 1000 B.C. Sāmaveda.It proposed a tonal structure consisting of seven notes, which were named, in descending order, as Krusht,Pratham, Dwitiya, Tritiya,Chaturth, Mandra andAtiswār. These refer to the notes of a flute, which was the only fixed frequency instrument. Both the Hindustani classical musicand the Carnatic classical music systems are based on the melodic mode (known as Rāga), sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala. These principles were refined in the nātyaśāstra (200 B.C.) and the dattilam(300 A.D.).

Purandaradasa is considered the "father of carnatic music" (Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha). He concluded his songs with a salutation to Lord Purandara Vittala and is believed to have composed as many as 475,000 songs in the Kannada language. However, only about 1000 are known today.

Prominent contemporary Indian musical forms include filmi and Indipop. Filmi refers to the wide range of music written and performed for mainstream Indian cinema, primarily Bollywood, and accounts for more than 70 percent of all music sales in the country Indipop is one of the most popular contemporary styles of Indian music which is either a fusion of Indian folk, classical or Sufi music with Western musical traditions.

Visual Painting

The Jataka tales from Ajanta Caves.

The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings ofpre-historic times, thepetroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, some of which go back to the Stone Age. Ancient texts outline theories of darragh and anecdotal accounts suggesting that it was common for households to paint their doorways or indoor rooms where guests resided.

Cave paintings from Ajanta, Bagh, Ellora and Sittanavasal and temple paintings testify to a love of naturalism. Most early and medieval art in India is Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. A freshly made coloured flour design (Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostly South Indian) Indian homes. Raja Ravi Varma is one the classical painters from medieval India.

Madhubani painting, Mysore painting, Rajput painting, Tanjore painting,Mughal painting are some notable Genres of Indian Art; while Nandalal Bose, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Geeta Vadhera, Jamini Roy and B.Venkatappa are some modern painters. Among the present day artists, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamacnahri, Devajyoti Ray and Shibu Natesan represent a new era of Indian art where global art shows direct amalgamation with Indian classical styles. These recent artists have acquired international recognition. Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Mysore Palace has on display a few good Indian painting

Sculpture

The 5th century Buddhistvishvakarma cave at Ellora, Maharashtra.

The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze figures have been discovered. Later, as Hinduism,Buddhism, and Jainism developed further, India produced some extremely intricate bronzes as well as temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora were not constructed by using blocks but carved out of solid rock.

Sculptures produced in the northwest, in stucco, schist, or clay, display a very strong blend of Indian and Classical Hellenistic or possibly evenGreco-Roman influence. The pinksandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved almost simultaneously. During the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) sculpture reached a very high standard in execution and delicacy in modeling. These styles and others elsewhere in India evolved leading to classical Indian art that contributed to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Southeast Central and East Asia.

Architecture

Considered to be an "unrivaled architectural wonder", the Taj Mahal inAgra is a prime example of Indo-Islamic architecture.

Indian architecture encompasses a multitude of expressions over space and time, constantly absorbing new ideas. The result is an evolving range of architectural production that nonetheless retains a certain amount of continuity across history. Some of its earliest production are found in the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE) which is characterised by well planned cities and houses. Religion and kingship do not seem to have played an important role in the planning and layout of these towns.

During the period of the Mauryan and Gupta empires and their successors, several Buddhist architectural complexes, such as the caves of Ajanta and Ellora and the monumental Sanchi Stupa were built. Later on, South India produced several Hindu temples likeChennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura, Brihadeeswara Temple,Thanjavur, the Sun Temple, Konark, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple atSrirangam, and the Buddha stupa (Chinna Lanja dibba and Vikramarka kota dibba) at Bhattiprolu. Angkor Wat, Borobudur and other Buddhistand Hindu temples indicate strong Indian influence on South East Asian architecture, as they are built in styles almost identical to traditional Indian religious buildings.

The Umaid Bhawan Palace in Rajasthan, one of the largest private residences in the world.

The traditional system ofVaastu Shastra serves as India's version of Feng Shui, influencing town planning, architecture, and ergonomics. It is unclear which system is older, but they contain certain similarities. Feng Shui is more commonly used throughout the world. Though Vastu is conceptually similar to Feng Shui in that it also tries to harmonize the flow of energy, (also called life-force or Prana inSanskrit and Chi/Ki in Chinese/Japanese), through the house, it differs in the details, such as the exact directions in which various objects, rooms, materials, etc. are to be placed.

With the advent of Islamic influence from the west, Indian architecture was adapted to allow the traditions of the new religion. Fatehpur Sikri,Taj Mahal, Gol Gumbaz, Qutub Minar, Red Fort of Delhi are creations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbols of India. The colonial rule of the British Empire saw the development of Indo-Saracenic style, and mixing of several other styles, such as European Gothic. The Victoria Memorial or the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus are notable examples.

Indian architecture has influenced eastern and southeastern Asia, due to the spread of Buddhism. A number of Indian architectural features such as the temple mound or stupa, temple spire or sikhara, temple tower orpagoda and temple gate or torana, have become famous symbols of Asian culture, used extensively in East Asia and South East Asia. The central spire is also sometimes called a vimanam. The southern temple gate, or gopuram is noted for its intricacy and majesty.

Contemporary Indian architecture is more cosmopolitan. Cities are extremely compact and densely populated. Mumbai's Nariman Point is famous for its Art Deco buildings. Recent creations such as the Lotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of India like Chandigarh, are notable.

Sports and martial arts

The annual snake boat race is performed during Onam Celebrations on the Pamba River at Aranmula near Pathanamthitta.

India's official national sport isfield hockey and the Indian field hockey team won the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic games. However,cricket is by far the most popular sport; the India national cricket team won the1983 Cricket World Cup and the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, theIrani Trophy and the Challenger Series. In addition, BCCI conducts theIndian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.

Chess is commonly believed to have originated in northwestern India during the Gupta empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as chaturanga. Other games which originated in India and continue to remain popular in wide parts of northern India include kabaddi, gilli-danda, and kho kho. Traditional southern Indian games include snake boat race and kuttiyum kolum.

Indian martial arts

Kalarippayattu, one of the oldest and most prominent forms of Indian martial arts.

One of the best known forms of ancient Indian martial arts is the Kalarippayattu from Kerala. This ancient fighting style originated in southern India in 12th century B.C. and is regarded as one of the oldest surviving martial arts. In this form martial arts, various stages of physical training include ayurvedic massage with sesame oil so as to impart suppleness to the body (uzichil), a series of sharp body movements so as to gain control over various parts of the body (miapayattu) and complex sword fighting techniques (paliyankam). Silambam, which was developed around 200 A.D., traces its roots to the Sangam period in southern India. Silambam is unique among Indian martial arts because it uses complex footwork techniques (kaaladi) including a variety of spinning styles and a bamboo staff is used as the main weapon. The ancient Tamil Sangam literature mentions that between 400 B.C. and 600 A.D., soldiers from southern India received special martial arts training which revolved primarily around the use of spear (val), sword (vel) and shield (kedaham).

In northern India, the musti yuddha evolved in 1100 A.D. and focussed on mental, physical and even spiritual training. In addition, the Dhanur Veda tradition was an influential fighting arts style which considered the bow and the arrow to be the supreme weapons. The Dhanur Veda was first described in the 5th century B.C. Viṣṇu Purāṇa and is also mentioned in both of the major ancient Indian epics, Rāmāyaṇa andMahābhārata. A distinctive factor of Indian martial arts is the heavy emphasis laid on meditation (dhyāna) as a tool to remove fear, doubt and anxiety.

Indian martial arts techniques have had a profound impact on other martial arts styles across Asia. The 3rd century B.C. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali taught how to meditate single-mindedly on points located inside one's body, which was later used in martial arts, while variousmudra finger movements were taught in Yogacara Buddhism. These elements of yoga, as well as finger movements in the nata dances, were later incorporated into various martial arts. According to some historical accounts, Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma was one of the main founders of the Shaolin Kungfu.

Popular media

 

Television

Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for educational telecasts. Indian small screen programming started off in the mid 1970s. At that time there was only one national channelDoordarshan, which was government owned. 1982 saw revolution in TV programming in India, with the New Delhi Asian games, India saw the colour version of TV, that year. The Ramayana and Mahabharat were some among the popular television series produced. By the late 1980s more and more people started to own television sets. Though there was a single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the government opened up another channel which had part national programming and part regional. This channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcasted terrestrially.

In 1991, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Since then, there has been a spurt in the number of channels available. Today, Indian silver screen is a huge industry by itself, and has thousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame for themselves. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as working women, and even men of all kinds. Some lesser known actors have found success in Bollywood. Indian TV now has many of the same channels as Western TV, including stations such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and MTV India

Cinema

Shooting of a Bollywood dance number.

Bollywood is the informal name given to the popularMumbai-based film industryin India. Bollywood and the other major cinematic hubs (in Bengali, Kannada,Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil,Punjabi and Telugu) constitute the broader Indian film industry, whose output is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and number of tickets sold.

India has produced many critically acclaimed cinema-makers like K.Vishwanath, Bapu ,Jagdaman Grewal, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak,Guru Dutt, K. Vishwanath, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli,Shekhar Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shankar Nag, Girish Karnad, G. V. Iyer,etc. (See Indian film directors). With the opening up of the economy in the recent years and consequent exposure to world cinema, audience tastes have been changing. In addition, multiplexes have mushroomed in most cities, changing the revenue patterns