With its
large geography and long history, India has witnessed different things
happening at different points of time. These changes have brought significant
changes in the country's culture. However, whatever the people and culture
entered India were absorbed or they assimilated the existing Indian ethos. This
is one of the most important features of Indian culture.
India
thrives as a robust country despite varying cultures among people across the
country. Pluralism is one of the main features of Indian culture. The various
groups such as men, women, racial, age, profession, ethnic and language groups
make Indian culture a rich social mosaic.
With such
diversity in the society, the way of life that people lead in general varies
according to the location.
Ethnic and religious
diversity
There are
people from different religions - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism,
Jainism, and Buddhism and others. Each of them has a distinct way of life. Yet,
there is absolute harmony among people.
Accordingly,
wedding rituals vary across religions in the country. Thus, while Hindu wedding
rituals are based on caste, wedding among Muslims differs depending on the
regions across the country.
Linguistic diversity
Further,
languages also differ across the country. Officially, there are 29 official
languages recognized by the Constitution Hindi and English being the official
languages of India. There is nothing like ‘National Language’. Also, there are
hundreds of languages spoken by a small number of people but don’t have any
script.
A vast
number of people in the country speak English making it the second largest
country in terms of the number of English-speaking people.
Food and clothing
As food and
clothing, there is a great variety. And, there’s hardly any cap as to what kind
of clothes one should wear every day.
When you travel across the
country, you’ll also find great architectural pieces in different styles
according to the history and culture of the region. The architectural monuments
are a great proof of the past – our culture, lifestyle and leisure, food, the
way of worshiping and so on.