Culture, Cultures, And Characteristics Of Indian Culture

There are over 1 billion residents in India, a country that is a little over one million two hundred thousand square miles. India first started out as several thousand different Indian tribes living within their own smaller societies. Britain took over India and made it into a unified empire. Britain had control of India all the way until 1930 when the Indian National Congress officially declared their independence. All of these characteristics lead India to have very specific religions, material and non-material cultures, as well as norms, folkways, values, and social structure. The most common Indian religion is Hindu. In 1991, 82% of all Indians were Hindu. The Hindu religion has been around since before Christianity and is considered

Art in India has been around since ancient times. People from long ago would carve into rock to create images. Now-a-days most people paint on paper or canvases to express personal feelings and religious beliefs. People also used colored flour to create images outside of their doorsteps. This is called “Rangoli.” Music is also another aspect of Indian culture. It could be considered material culture and/or non-material culture depending on how it was passed down. There are two basic styles of classical music in India. The first style originated in northern India and it is the Hindustani style of music. The second type originated in southern India and it is the Carnatic style of music. Indian Pop, rock, and jazz music exists in India today as well. Clothing is another aspect of material culture. Nearly all of Indian people wear very colorful pieces of clothing. The most common thing for women to wear in India is a “Sari.” This is a single piece of colorful cloth that is wrapped around the body. Although most Indian clothing looks the same, religion can cause some differences in what women wear. Muslim women are required to wear a “hijab” which is a scarf-like material that must be worn over their