THE CULTURAL PANORAMA OF INDIA.

• ANTIQUITY: The Indian civilisation is older than the memory of Man. It had seen the birth and death of many  civilisations.

• INFLUENCES:  Even the Indian Geography and Climate had its influence on her history and culture.

• ITS CONTENTS: The Indian Culture is neither wholly Aryan nor completely dravidian.

• ITS SIGNIFICANCE: Indian Culture is neither wholly religious nor wholly secular.

• ITS VITALITY: It is characterised by its Antiquity and Continuity, with a capacity to survive any calamity.

• ITS UNIQUENESS: Its attitude is one of ASSIMILATIVE acceptance.

• ITS VERACITY: It is neither so idealistic as to be unpractical nor so solid (matter of fact,) as to makes it  unspiritual.

• ITS FLEXIBILTY:It has always made concessions to human weaknesses without compromising its ideals.

Example: During the Vedic period for every type of violation of accepted social norm, the Aryan Society provided remedial measure. Thus the eight types of marriages, twelve kinds of sons, and Anuloma and Pratiloma variety of marriages were recognised in the interest of social harmony and peace.

Example:

The Bhakthi Movements in India. (Many Religious saint reformers advocating religious unity, understanding and harmony.)  

ITS UNIVERSALITY: The Indian Culture is characterized by the concept of DHARMA, in its varied forms such as KULA Dharma, JATI Dharma, DESA Dharma, VRITTI Dharma, RAJA Dharma, and PRAJA Dharma. Dharma is a comprehensive term and includes more than virtuous life, righteous living, the rule of law, equality of all in the eyes of GOD, etc       

ITS SPIRITUALITY: From time immemorial India has been the Home of  Emotions, Imagination, and spirituality.  

(Sathya Sai Baba, Mahesh Yogi, Rajanesh, Krishnamurthy etc in recent times and Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Ramana, Aurobindo in yesteryears are some of the well-known examples. There are thousands of unpublicized and many more unwilling to reveal their identity are known to the seekers of Indian wisdom. Note: For each genuine example there are dozens and dozens of imposters and hypocrites thrive on the gullibility of the unsophisticated masses of India.  

ITS SPECIALITY: India is the one country where, SIMPLICITY of life has been stressed and practiced, and RENUNCIATION venerated, where the SANYASI (the man of renunciation,) is honoured more than the capitalists of wealth, financial wizards, captains of industry, commanders of armed forces, of kings and Emperors!  Where one can witness   the specters of Ministers and Presidents, Legislators, Judges and other categories referred above- all falling at the feet of a rugged looking men of rags, described as a Gurus or a Bhagawan or Swamiji!  

POVERTY has never been a crime, and is never considered as degrading. Thus Indian History has been comparatively free from class antagonism, class-hatreds and class struggles. On the other hand, RENUNCIATION,  SACRIFICE and AUSTERITY exhort a following in India unlike in other parts of the world.  

ITS HUMANE ASPECTS: In India, the practice of charity has been more than a socio-religious duty and all social, cultural and religious activities are characterized by the feeding of the poor, besides honouring the Holy men and women and guests as well. Street pent-houses, pials attached adjacent to the front doors, open verandahs form as part and parcel of the lives of the mass people in rural areas. It becomes a religious duty to provide shelter to the way fares in rural regions.

Indian Religious rites and Indian Philosophy are all intertwined and can be recognized in every aspect of the cultural life of the people. The Vedantic concept of MAYA and the Epic characters like Rama, Sita, Bharata, Krishna etc inspire and influence even the unlettered folk in India.  The Indian Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, are not only familiar to the Hindus but to all others as Christians and Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.  

NOTE:  A new lease of life to Religion, to Philosophy, to Arts and Crafts is periodically provided through positive reactions and healthy restorations from time to time. This is clearly revealed in the study of Indian history.

PERSONAL HYGIENE: Attachment to personal cleanliness is yet another characteristic feature of the Indian Culture. Bathing and washing the cloths have been the regular, daily practices even among the poor. Thus in Indus excavations also we find evidence of dwellings arranged each with a bath room and drainage connected to the streets- temple tanks for pilgrims sacred baths, thus Indian rivers, temple tanks and sulfur sprigs at the hill temples are meant for religious and ceremonial baths.

ITS MAGNANIMITY: Indian Culture is predominantly characterized by SELF-RESTRAINT. Thus it lays stress on sharing with the poor, on charity, on   Austerity, Sanyasa and most important aspect " AN ALL-TOLERANCE." Indian Toleration has always been the product of RELIGIOUS FAITH where as the Toleration of the western system has been the product resulting from its warning of faith in Religion. 

ITS VIRILITY: An important characteristic of the Indian culture is the Superior status given to Vegetarianism. This is traceable to the horrors of killing the animals, and partly due to the fear of KARMA and belief in the TRANSMIGRATION theory of Souls. Children of all classes and communities are brought with the philosophical ideal .

They trained their apprentices, took care of their aged and disabled, acted as bankers and had their own police system and caste Panchayats to settle all disputes with least interference from the state. These guilds and their contacts with oversea traders continued almost till the invasions by the foreign forces that were attracted at the fabulous wealth and peace and prosperity of India.  

India's fabulous wealth and prosperity was recorded both by the visiting Greek and Roman scholars of the west and many Buddhist pilgrims from far off places like China. It was in search of this fabulous wealth and to reach India, that Columbus sailed and mistook America as India .

The democratic traditions of the Indian Mercantile Classes and their endowments to temple and charitable purposes, the articles of trade such as horses, elephants, precious stones, pearls, perfumes and drugs are all evidenced by the hundreds and thousands of inscriptions, excavated ruins, ports, archeological artifacts inclusive of ancient foreign coins of the west etc.

ITS MATURITY: Mankind's earliest literature can be traced to India, (even before the invention of the art of writing in one form or the other,) in the VEDIC POETRY.  The foundations of almost all-modern branches of knowledge in arts and sciences can be traced to India in particular to the RIG-VEDA.                        

ITS INTELLECTUAL SENIORITY: In the words of WILL DURANT, " MOTHER IINDIA is in many ways the MOTHER OF   US ALL."   It is the Mother land of European races,  Mother of western philosophy,    Sanskrit, the mother of European languages,  Mathematics, India’s gift to the west through the Arabs,    It is the Mother through Buddhism of the ideals embodied in  Christianity,   It is also the Mother through village community, of western self-government, and thus of Democracy.  (WILL   DURANT.)  

The Indus people long before its modern adoption knew decimal system, multiplication and even measurements.  

NOTE: For purposes of conducting Vedic rites and sacrifices Aryans were the first to evolve various branches of mathematical science such as Algebra, Geometry and Astronomy.  

Ancient India also developed professional disciplines such as medicine (Ayurveda, Siddha,) and surgery. (Indus finds give proof to early medical systems.)  

A large amount of literature dealing with the practical affairs of life, inclusive of technical arts and crafts, was created and passed on to successive generations.  
EXAMPLES:  
The Delhi IRON PILLAR, the Copper colossus of Buddha at Sultan Ganja, the pigments needed to produce Amanita Paintings, the proficiency in metallurgy, engineering etc the 7^th Century A.D, book titled 'Manasara,' dealing with Iconography-Temple Sculpture, are testimonies to the many sided marvels of India's Cultural achievements.   Thus India provides many missing links in the intellectual ancestry of Europe.  

 ITS DIVERSE ACHIEVEMENTS: Indian traditions are traced back to the Mohenjadaro and Harappa, which reveal a civilization with great urban life, bustling with industries, maintaining comfortable homes with luxuries, ranging to statuary and jewelry much superior of the contemporary prevailing civilizations (around 3500 BC) like Babylon and Egypt. 

Early evidence of India's (perhaps in certain branches earliest known of mankind's) achievement's in Town planning and Municipal Administration (with planned streets, drainage connections and street manholes for regular cleaning etc,) technological skills in plumbing, skill in glazing and boring hard metals for daily needs(iron was unknown to them!) this includes a polished bronze mirror- four hundred different hair styles noted in their statuary and seals- perhaps early evidence to the existence of fashion parades with  full of women like Sushmita Sens. Aishwarya Roys and Mukta mookhyas et al could be traced to Indus Valley civilization!   

The Aryans besides originating early form of Religion and Philosophical speculations ( which were admired and praised sky high by great philosophers and thinkers like Voltaire, Schophaneur, Hegel, Emerson etc,) originated Linguistic science, which astonishes even modern philologists.  

QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE: A vast and varied knowledge was available to all, Prince, Peasant, and Craftsman and to the Academics of universities like, Taxila, Vikramasala, Kasi, Kanchi, Madura, Nalanda etc.

Centers of learning were scattered all over, in Brahmin Agrahara, Gurukulams in Temples and Temple towns, Ashrams in Forest regions and in established universities, at places like Taxila, Varanasi, Vikramasala, Nalanda, Kanchi etc   

Thus ideals of SELF-GOVERNMENT, irrespective of the forms of government existed in India from the time immemorial. The Jataka tales and Buddhist literature contain detailed information on the existence of several Republican states in India as early as sixth century BC  

Indian Temples were the focus of the community life both in rural areas and in and urban centers.  NOTE: Alexander found that Indians could fight and thus he had to give up suddenly his plans of penetrating in to the interior regions of this country

MENTAL EQUANIMITY: Ancient Indians gave equal importance to all the aspects of life - that is Moral, Material; Physical and Spiritual aspects described as Purushardhas, (Dharma, Ardha, Kama and Moksha.)  

Some foreign critics have misunderstood the culture of India and noted only aspects of " Life negation," and concluded that it denudes and impoverishes human life and thus pessimistic and fatalistic.

On the other hand Vedas do not contain references to death, hell, sin etc. All Vedic prayers are addressed seeking plenty of wealth, long years of life, large families etc. Even later thinkers advocated the creative arts called 64 accomplishments, which included Chaura sastra or the science of thieving, Aswa sastra, or horse breeding, Hasti sastra or Elephant training, painting, wrestling an boxing, hunting, making love with opposite gender, the art of communication between lovers including forwarding messages through birds and animals etc are all included under the 64 sisters or sciences. 

INDIAN SENSE OF BEAUTY: Beauty according to the Indian tradition is 

• Subjective, 

• it belongs to the Spirit, 

• it can be apprehended only by the Spiritual Vision. Artist's duty is to cultivate the faculty of THE SPIRITUAL VISION, and to develop INTUITIVE PERCEPTION.

NOTE: Practically all fine arts inclusive of Music. Dancing and a major part of arts and crafts reveal the influence of religion, philosophy and prayers (spiritual aspec ts,) of the Indian people. (Most of the Indian Arts and Professions are still hereditary. Thus the Indian families provide the necessary apprenticeship right from childhood.)

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND USAGE, (along with the ideal of DHARMA,) regulate and maintain the social, the economic, the political and the cultural life of the people. Thus absence of government and often the presence of an alien government made no great difference in the lives of the people. 

Thus property, contracts, security and safety of possessions, regulation of markets and business, founding of charities-- all these were taken care of by the cultural traditions of the people. There were no written records. Proofs not insisted upon. No police force employed. No bureaucratic fuss existed. Some misunderstood it as the tyranny of the Community.  

KARMA AND PUNARJANMA. The doctrine of transmigration of souls (Cycle of births and deaths,) and the inevitable accountability for actions performed or failure to perform in this life (to be settled in the next life/lives,), and the joys and sufferings experienced presently resulting from the effects of previous lives, is summed up in the expression KARMA.

Thus Karma and Punarjanma are the ethical principles insisting upon the noble ideals such as HONESTY, HOSPITALITY, PHILONTHROPHY, CHASTITY, TENDERNESS towards the DUMB ANIMALS and an AVERSION to EVIL.   

THE CORRUPTED CASTE SYSTEM. (JATI): Caste implies a kind of decentralized socialism without the compulsions of statist policy enforced by social odium, its sanctions, and its social resentment. It is effective in small circles due to intimate contacts.

JATI/ CASTE/COMMUNITY used to be a concrete reality once. It used to function like a larger family circle. Individual's duties once were not restricted to family alone. It extended to Jati. Indian Culture demands that a man should share his prosperity with the members of his Jati. (The minimum expected of an Individual,) This is expressed in Sanskrit classics as " SARVO JANABHI SUKHINO BHAVANTHU."  Which means 'welfare of all' and " VASU DHAIKA KUTUMBAKAM," meaning ' World family.' Such were the ultimate goals of life of the people over the ages.  

NOTE:  Foreign invasions, intermixing with the native tribes, introduction of new faiths had resulted in the evolution of exclusive tendencies and narrow mindedness crept at all social levels in INDIA. This led to a system of prohibitions, creating restrictions on inter-marriages and inter-dining and to thedevelopment of the vicious concept of untouchability practice. Thus  "CORRUPTION," has become the characteristic feature of the caste system, which is breaking down gradually with process of education, economic development and legal reforms.

NOTE: It is important to note that there had been no severe struggle for life in India thanks to her geography and its natural resources. Social life never assumed gigantic proportions of a LONDON or a PARIS. Life is confined FAMILY CENTERD LIFE. to the ARRANGED MARRIAGES, and to CONJUGAL FIDELITY.

JOINT FAMILY: the bonds of the joint family pattern mark Indian social life. Family is not just man and Wife with minor children. It includes grandsons and great grand sons, numerous cousins, nephews and nieces and their children. Thus Family is a SOCIALIST INSTITUTION WITH IN ITSELF. At the same time the individual is a potentially free person.

MARRIAGE SANCTITY: Marriage is not an affair. It is an institution. It is not just a matter between two individuals. It is an inviolable contract. INVIOLABILITY is its chief characteristic. Arranged marriages do not exclude considerations of individual fancies and preferences. The general formula in India is that every one should lead a married life and it shall not be left to chance and romance.  

Wife's personality is always merged in to her husband's. yet in India wife is not "No Body," and her share is often larger than that of her husband. The ritualistic side of Hindu Religion insists on the "Female," as absolutely necessary to complete the Image of the Divine. Thus in out ward appearance ( to the strangers,) women are given a subordinate status. But in reality the woman at Home is the Queen, the invisible Governing Sovereign authority whose silence is more effective than the male noises. They enjoy dignity and importance in all family decisions and domestic functions with in the family circle.

Mother Earth, Goddess of Wealth, Goddess of water Mother Ganga, Ardha-Nareeswar, Sit Ram, Radha Krishna are self explanatory to illustrate the reverence attached to the fair sex in Indian scheme of life.   

THE DOMESTC BLISS: artistic and aesthetic out look characterizes every day domestic life. Morning till sun set their festivals, social functions, music, funerals, folk arts, temple festivals and temple arts, seasonal celebrations (secular and sacred,) all illustrate their aesthetic tastes.   

For centuries Indians practiced Democratic ideals.    thus Enthroning, and  Deposing  of Monarchs  without popular agitation's or bloody civil wars, was achieved with ease. Rulers kept their fingers on the pulse of the people, and  public opinion constantly elicited through net works of agents and spies. Thus they were  democratic without people being doctrinaire demagogues, spontaneously social without being socialists, and fraternally community conscious without being communists. The secret being that  all aspects of their life was regulated by the concept of DHARMA (Sanskrit,)/ ARAM ( Tamil .) /  Life based on Truth and Godliness ( or God centered life.)

Ancient Indian Royal courts were rendezvous to the powerful elitist class to the seekers of fortunes/patronage, among men of letters and arts.  

INDIA'S INTELLECTUAL ORIGINALITY: India's intellectual heritage includes as often the fruits of free thinking as of orthodox religious beliefs. Thus Atheism and Materialistic hedonism of CHARVAKA, and the KAMASUTRAS of VATSYAYANA not being precluded. Indian view of life is known for its other worldly-ness. Indian temperament is basically Transcendental-- the quest for KNOWLEDGE of the "SELF." In India the search has always has been in seeking

• The spirit in matter,

• Unity in diversity,

• Tranquility in action  and

• renunciation in daily duties. Indians lay stress on Ahimsa and in the sacredness of all living things.  

THE SPIRIT OF JOY IN LIVING: Indian History reveals hat there is no lack of emphasis on " A life of Joy." To be happy from every point of view has been the ideal aimed at in all the prayers, pilgrimages, festivities and social and secular celebrations. People of India experimented with and developed all aspects of life--Individual and collective, social and political besides developing positive sciences, creative arts and literature and various forms of HAPPY and JOYOUS living.

THE ETERNAL INSPIRATION OF INDIA:  
Perhaps nobody can improve on the statement and opinion expressed on India than Prof. MAXMULLER (In his book,' INDIA, WHAT IT CAN TEACH US,' written in the nineteen twenties,) who proclaimed thus,   

" If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow-in some parts a very Paradise on earth-I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions to some of them which well deserve the attention even of those ho have studied Plato and Immanuel Kant- I should point to India. 

If I were to ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, who have been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and one of Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human, a life, not for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life-again I should point to INDIA."

THE PRAGMATIC MESSAGE OF INDIA:  
There is nothing mystical, nor mysterious, nothing dogmatic or sectarian in the message of India. Because it speaks in terms of man's development, his progress, and his achievement of the highest EXCELLENCE. The RIG-VEDA says " Let Noble Thoughts come to us from All Directions." Let others think or speak what ever they like, never mind. If there is some Goodness with others let us acquire the same.