Being home to 1.38 billion people, India accommodates interesting cultural diversity between languages, religious traditions, geographical regions, ethnicity, and festivals. Indian culture is, therefore, the Indian way of life. Because of the population diversity, there is immense diversity in Indian culture. It is an amalgamation of various cultures belonging to different religions that follow their own cultures and traditions.
Indian culture is among the oldest cultures in the world. India had an urban civilization even during the Bronze era. The Indus Valley Civilization, popularly known as Harappan Civilization, dates back to 3300 BC - 1300 BC.
Let us know in detail about Indian culture and its importance. Explore the traditions, languages, cuisines, festivals, ethnicity, heritage, and more.
Geographical Diversity
India’s geography is incredibly diverse, with landscapes ranging from snow-capped mountains ranges to deserts, plains, hills, and plateaus.
The northern part of the country homes the largest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. The Himalayas are a source of major Indian rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, and Indus in the northern region and the Godavari in the central and southeast regions. They provide irrigation for farmlands, a method of transportation, and are considered holy by Hindu followers.
The country's western region boasts the vastness and magnificence of the Thar Desert. In contrast, the Southern region has the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, tropical jungles, coastal plains, and beaches to add to its charm.
Notably, metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata include a melting pot of rapid economic development and technological advancement, clearly portraying India’s rise as an economic and political powerhouse on the global stage. Besides, such big metropolitan cities stand in contrast to smaller towns and villages, each containing distinctive micro societies. Indeed, it’s common to find people having regional pride and identity towards their place of origin.
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Linguistic Diversity
India has around 121 languages (comprising 22 languages and 99 languages not included in the Eighth Schedule) and more than 19,500 dialects spoken in India. Very few people speak most of these languages, or most of these languages are confined to specific regions, states, or areas.
As per the 8th schedule of the constitution of India, there are 22 major recognized languages. These are Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Manipuri, Malayalam, Nepali, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Oriya, Urdu, Telugu, Sindhi, Boro, Santhili, Maithali, and Dogri.
Based on the Devanagari script, Hindi is recognized as the official language of the Indian Union by the Constitution, followed by Telugu, spoken by 60 million people in India, and English, curating its place as a subsidiary language for commercial and government purposes. That’s why it’s said that India has a spectacle of the museum of tongues.
Because of India’s linguistic diversity, India is popularly known as the third-largest English language publisher in the world and the world's seventh-largest book publishing country worldwide (when all languages are counted), with more than 16,000 publishers. More than 80,000 new titles in 24 different languages are published in India every year.
Religious Diversity
The preamble to the Constitution of India declares India as a secular country where people have the right to follow any religion of their choice. India is one of the religious countries with a large and active population of Hindus (80.45%), Muslims (13.43%), Christians (2.34%), Sikhs (1.86%), and others (2%).
Although India is a land of myriad religions, 80% of the Indian population follows Hinduism. Other religions to which the people belong are Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism.
Durga Pooja (West Bengal)
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Christmas
Baisakhi (Punjab)
Hindus and Muslims can be traced in almost all parts of India, which makes Islam the second most followed religion in India, Influencing the country’s architecture, culture, artistry, and society. For example, the mystical strain of Islam (Sufism) is also popular, with people gathering to watch Sufi dance events. Most Muslims are Sunni, but there are also influential Shi'ite minorities in Gujarat. Most Sunnis reside in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, and other major cities.
Sikhs are largely concentrated in Punjab, a part of the Northern region, followed by Buddhists in Maharashtra. At the same time, the Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Meghalaya have the majority of the population as Christian.
Ethnic Diversity
India is a diverse multiethnic country, home to thousands of small ethnic and tribal groups. Cuisine and handicrafts vary greatly from different religions to languages, clothing, music, and dance.
Dance & Music
India is a land of diverse dance forms. The most popular Classical dance forms like Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Manipuri, etc. While Folk dances like Chhau, Rouf, Padayani, Dollu Kunitha, Dandiya, Bihu, and Gaur are mainly performed at festivals, wedding events, harvesting, etc.
Also, the diverse form of Indian culture is reflected in Indian music. There are different forms of music like the folk music of every specific region and religion, ghazal, Shayari, and many more.
Clothing
Traditional clothing in the country varies from region to region, influenced immensely by local culture, geography, and climatic conditions. The popular style of dress includes drapes. The traditional attire for women includes ghagra-choli (Rajasthan), pheran (Jammu and Kashmir), Mekhala Chador (Assam), ghagri with orni (Uttrakhand), etc.
The ethnic wear for men includes dhoti, kurta, salwar-kameez, turban, and more. Dhoti is also known as Dhuti or Laacha. Kurta is also one of the famous ethnic wear of men in India.
Throughout India, however, Western dresses are in vogue. Still, the saree is the most gorgeous and elegant apparel for women to be worn at formal events, traditional functions, and religious ceremonies. Whereas men likely wear tailored clothes, including trousers, shirts, vests, and jackets, as formal wear.