Our Cultural Heritage

Essay No. 01

For thinking minds to blossom for arts and science to develop a primary condition is a safe and secure society. A rich culture is impossible in a community of nomads where people struggle for life. India has got all the gifts of nature. Nature yielded enough food and man did not have to toil very hard for meeting the basic needs.

Accumulated store of symbols, ideas and material products associated with a social system. In India great civilization and cultures have flourished from time immemorial. The diversity of India is tremendous. It is a land of many languages. It is home to many ethnic groups. But there are certain common links which act as threads and prove unity among diversity. India has much great tradition.

Cultural heritage stands for things that have been passed on from earlier generations to the present generation. Of special significance are the works of literature, music and arts in all its forms and shades. India has a rich cultural heritage. It is a healthy blend of various cultures.

India can rightly boast of being one of the oldest civilizations of the world. The Indus Valley civilization is among the oldest and the best civilizations of the world. The people were fairly advance and had access to public baths, neat and clean houses good towns with wide roads and other best facilities.

The Vedas are the earliest documents of the human mind that we possess. The Vedas give us abundant information. There are four Vedas Rig, Yajur,  Sama and Atharv. In them we find freshness simplicity and charm and an effort to understand the mystery of the world.

The wisdom of our ancient epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata holds the eternal lesson of the victory of the good over evil. The Bhagvad Gita is a book full of philosophical principles. Lord Buddha preached that perfect happiness could be gained if one exercises control over one’s pinions. Hinduism has a large number of gods and goddesses besides the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It allows its followers to worship God in any form they like.

Guru Nanak Dev the founder of Sikhism laid supreme stress on true faith simplicity purity of life an religious tolerance. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam are among the major religions followed in India. Traditionally tolerance of all faiths is a part of our cultural heritage. India is a secular country and the state treats all religions equality.

Astrology and astronomy were quite popular in ancient India. aryabhatta precisely calculated the time of solar eclipse more than two thousand years ago. The concept of zero was invented in India. India scientists of Indian origin like C.V Raman Subramanian Chandrashekhar, Hargobind Khorana and Venkataraman Ramakrishan have won Nobel prizes for their contributions in the field of science.

Music is one of the oldest forms of expression of human thoughts and emotions. Indian music is based on the concept of ragas and tales. There are two major schools of classical music the Carnatic and the Hindustani Indian musicians like Bhimsen Joshi, M.S. subhalakshmi, Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Jasraj, Ustad Amjad Ali khan, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Zakir Hussains and others have popularized our music in India and abroad.

Dance in India has an unbroken tradition of over 2000 years. Its themes are derived from mythology, legends and classical literature. There are two main forms of dances in India. these are folk dance and classical dance. India dance is based on rasa, bhava and abhinaya. There are five main classical dance forms namely Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Manipuri kathak and Odissi. Others prominent dances are Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam.

India has a rich literary heritage. India also has a rich regional literature. Regional literature in fact has often contributed to the fostering of a national identity and a national culture. India has always been a linguistically diverse community. Sanskrit was only the language of the elite whereas prakrit and ardha agahi were more commonly spoken by the masses. During the Mughal rule Persian took the place of Sanskrit as the court language while Urdu and Hindustani were the language of the common masses in north India.

It is without doubt that India has a rich cultural heritage and that we have excelled in different spheres. However it should also be acknowledged that we have inherited some negative aspects of our culture as well. Division of society on the basis of division of lab our gave birth to the caste system. The caste system created a gulf among people leading to disunity and conflicts in the society.

The philosophical thoughts of Raja Rammohan Roy , Dayanand Saraswati , Ramakrishana Paramhansa Dev , Swami Vivekananda , Rabindranath Tagore , Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru have contributed a lot to the enrichment of the Indian culture.

Culture is dynamic cross currents of other cultures always influence the culture of a country. It is more so in the present day world where distances virtually have ceased to exist. Let us keep our windows and doors open to other cultures and to their healthy influence but we should stand firm and tall and should not be swept off our feet.

Essay No. 02

Our Cultural Heritage

India’s  cultural  heritage  is  a  harmonious  blending  of  an, religion  and  philosophy  which  is  unique  in  the  world.  Some 4,000  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  first-  stirring  of civilization  occurred  amongst  the  people  of  India.  Till  the  end of  the  British  Raj,  India  had  been  exposed  to  an  unbroken sequence  of  civilizations.  All this has only served to enrich our cultural tradition.  All efforts should be directed towards nurturing this rich treasure.

India has a rich cultural tradition.  There  is  a  harmonious  blending  of art,  religion  and  philosophy  in  the  Indian  culture.  They  are  beautifully interwoven  in  the  fabric  of  Indian  way  of  life  and  thought.  Indian  culture is  actually  an  outcome  of  continuous  synthesis  of  different  cultures and  has  absorbed  many  external  influences  in  the  course  of  history. The  first  stirring  of  civilization  occurred  amongst  the  people  of  India some  4,000  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  From  those  ancient  times till  recent  past,  we  were  exposed  to  unbroken  sequence  of  civilizations. It  is  only  the  dynamism  and  the  flexibility  of  Indian  culture  that  enabled it  to  survive  these  foreign  invasions  and  retain  its  originality  and traditional  character  even  after  imbibing  the  best  of  these  external influences.

Indian  people,  who  are  by  nature  tolerant  and  fatalists,  did  not  at  any time  ridicule  the  traditions  of  foreign  civilizations.  On  the  other  hand, Indian  mind  has  assimilated  much  of  the  thinking  of  the  other  cultures, thus  enriching  itself  and  thereby  becoming  unique  in  its  character. Today,  it  is  this  uniqueness  which  attracts  the  western  societies  to  the Indian  culture.  Disillusioned  with  their materialistic  pattern  of  lives they  turn  to  India  for  solace  and  peace.

The  wisdom  of  our  ancient  epics  like  the  Ramayana  and  Mahabharata serves  as  a  beacon  light  to  the  seekers  of  spiritual  bliss  and  holds eternal  lessons  of  the  victory  of  good  over  evil.  In  the  Bhagvad  Gita Krishna  tells  how  every  human  being  can  come  to  live  the  subtle philosophical  principles  laid  down  in  our  scriptures   in  the  actual to-day  life.  Lord  Buddha  taught  us  to  follow  the  middle path  exercising  control  over  the  passions.  One  has  to  admit  that  Indian  sari and  philosophers  had  started  pondering  on  great  issues  2000  years ago which  have  been  raised  in  the  west  only  in  the  last  century.

Indian   art  was  influenced  by  the  religious  beliefs  and  the  philosophical trends   of  the  times.  The temples  of  the  south,  the  caves  of  Ajanta Ellora  and  Khajuraho  are  living  testimony  to  the  artistic  excellence achieved  by  the  Indian  artists,  sculptors  and  architects  in  those  gone by days.  Foreign tourists experience a spiritual reawakening on visited these temples.

Indian  music  is  remarkable  because  of  the  continuity  in  its  growth Long  before  Christian  eta,  it  had developed  not  only  definite  laws  of, theory  and  practice,  but  even  comprehensive  theories  of  appreciate. Like  Indian  dance,  it  is  built  on  the  concepts  of  ragas  and tales. Each  raga  is  regarded  as  appropriate  to  certain  emotion,  a  certain  mood, suitable  for  certain  time  of  the  day   or  night.  There  are  two  major  schools of  classical  music—the  Hindustani  and  the  Climatic.  Both derive  their rules  from  the  classical  treatises  Natya  Shastra  of  Bharata  and  Sangeet Ratnakar  by  Sarangdeva.  There  are  about  250  ragas  commonly  used  in. north  as  well  as  south.  Indian music   has had great impact on the western music.  Great  maestros  like  Pandit  Ravi  Shankar,  Zakir  Hussain,  etc. have  made  valuable  contribution  towards  popularising  and  promoting appreciation  for  Indian  music  abroad.

The  background  of  Indian  dance  is  infinitely  rich  and  as  varied  as  the land.  itself  yet  with  the  same underlying  unity  which  binds  the  people of  the  country  together.  The  dances  of  India,  whether  folk  or  classical  are  an  eloquent  expression  of  an  ancient  civilization,  whose  timeless wisdom  continues  to  evoke  the  passionate  search  of  man  for  conscious identity with  God. Folk  and tribal  dances  of  India are of  innumerable types.  But  they  all  express  its  peoples  natural  gaiety,  sense  of  abandon and  rhythm.  The  origin  of  classical  dances  is  from  the  Hindu  temples. It  was  in  the  temples  that  they were first conceived  and  nourished.  It Was  also  in  the  temples  that  they  attained  their  full  stature.  While  it is frue  that  dances  were  also  performed  in  Courts, festive  occasions, etc.  yet  the,  impulse  that  gave  them  birth  was  religious.

There  are  four  major. systems  of  classical  dances  in  India—–Bharat Natyam,  Kathak,  Kathakali,  Manipuri.  Other prominent  dances  are Kuchipudi  of  Andhra,  Odissi  of  Orissa,  and  Mohiniattarn  of  Kerala. As in  all  performing  arts,  so  in  dance  the  concept  of  rasa  holds  the  central place.  In  dancing  rasa  is  conveyed  through  behave  or  expression, through  the  technique  of  abhinaya.  One  of  the  latest  developments  in the  field  of  dance  is  ballet,  which  has  brought  about  a  synthesis  of  the lyricism,  grace  and  pictorial  quality  of  Indian  dance  forms—both classical  and  folk.

Since  Independence,  Indians  themselves  have  become  increasingly  keen to  promote  their  sense  of  national  identity  and  cultural  unity. Consequently  there  has  been  a  revival  of  interest  in  indigenous  folk arts,  especially  in  the  realm  of music  and   dance.  Now,  it  is  up  to  our educational  institutions  to  ensure  that  the  younger  generation  imbibes the  right  values  and  tries  to  uphold  the  torch  of  spiritual  and  cultural renaissance  for  the  rest  of  the  world  to  see  and  emulate  and  not  get carried  away  by  the   materialistic  ideology  of  the  west,  where  man   has achieved  astounding  success  in  unraveling  the  mysteries  of  nature,  but feels  alienated  and  rootless  in  his  own  community  and  society.  We must ensure  that  modern  India.  does  not  at  any  stage  forget  its  rich cultural  heritage,  a  legacy  of  our  ancient  seers,  philosophers  and  sages.

The  success  with  which  Festivals  of  India  have  met  with  in  the  U.S.A., France,  the  former  U.S.S.R.  and  Japan  proves  the  interest  of  foreigners in  our  cultural  traditions.  At  home  too,  the  government’s  efforts  to promote  a  revival  of  interest  in  our  folk  arts,  music  and  dance  have met  with  tremendous  public  response.  People  of  Delhi  saw Apna  Utsav a  few  years  back  and  learnt  many  things  along  with  most  modern  stage techniques.

The  classical  theatre  has  a  tradition  of  more  than.2,000  years.  Dramas were  mainly  performed  on platforms  raised  in  temple  courtyards  and palaces.  The   choice  of  themes  was  varied.  Although  mainly  taken  from folk  stories,  epics  and  religious  texts,  it  was  an  elaborate  affair  and Combined  dance,  acting  and  music.

Historically  speaking,  with  the  passing  of  early  Hindu  kingdoms—under whose  patronage the  arts  had flourished  in  India—and  the  Muslim invasion  of  the  North,  the  dramatic  tradition  almost  died  in  the  North. ,However,  south of India  retained  a  remarkable  continuity  of  its  cultural heritage  virtually because  of  its  geographical.  position,  where  the  foreign invaders  did  not  meet  with  much  success.  It  goes  to  the  credit  of  Indian peoples  tenacity  and   ability  that  they  Were  able  to  retain  their  essential traditional  outlook  in  spite  of  fierce  onslaughts  by  invaders.

The  British  Raj  to  a  certain  exent  was  responsible   for  the  recovery  of intellectual  curiosity.  A  deep  interest  Was  taken  in  the  story  of  India s past  ,and  to  preserve  the  country s  rich  cultural  heritage.  It  was  a  sign of maturity and foresight on the part of the British to leave the people to follow their faith and belief they were not aware. All these are attempts to keep our cultural heritage alive and transmit it to the younger generations.