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Characteristics and Values of Indian Culture

he culture of India refers to the way of life of the people of India. India's languages, religions,

dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country. The

Indian culture, often labelled as an amalgamation of several cultures.CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN CULTURE

Religiosity

India is a religious country, and almost all the people sincerely believe in religion. Religiontouches every corner of the Indian society and the soul of all the ordinary people, thusmaintaining tight and close links with Indian society, politics, economy, military, art andliterature. Indian people witness the great and irresistible pacts imposed by religion onthemselves in every aspect of life. In short, Life will have no meaning without religio n

Diversity

Diversity stands out as one of the most prominent characteristics of the Indian cultural system.Within this system, there are different cultural elements such as Hellenic culture, Islamic culture,Persian culture, English culture and Chinese culture. The reason for this diversity is multifacetedand the most important factor is the alien cultures brought to India by invaders.

I nclusiveness

Inclusiveness is another salient characteristic of Indian culture that distinguishes it from other

cultures. Of all kinds of local cultures, linguistic cultures and religious cultures of India inhistory, each contains a variety of elements in part from alien cultures

Regional ism of Cul tur e of a Tropical Subconti nent

Being a result of the particular geographic environment and climate, regionalism is the uniquecharacteristic of Indian culture, which some scholars tend to call the "culture of the tropicalsubcontinent". From a geographic point of view, the Indian subcontinent is just like an isolatedisland projecting into the Indian Ocean. The geographic separation and scorching weather are themain external factors contributing to the regionalism of Indian culture. Snow covers theHimalayas, the towering world roof, all year long and no one would set foot on the tops of

these mountains in the winter . Oceans and seas surround India in the east, west and south. Theonly land which links it to the outside world in the east and west is also blocked by mountains,forests and deserts

VALUES OF INDIAN CULTURE

M ateri al V alues

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The material value on which Indian culture puts emphasis is the perfect devotion/commitment ofhumans. Though enjoyment of material values is a part of Indian cultural values, it is only a partand cannot represent the ultimate goal the Indian cultural values pursue, that is, to realize the

perfect devotion of humans.

Social and Poli tical Values

The social and political values of Indian culture are that humans should intend to create aharmonious environment, using the eternal law of the cosmos to normalize their own conducts inorder to reach the ultimate stage of oneness with Brahman-atman.

Spiri tual Values

The ultimate goal that the spiritual values of Indian culture pursue is to realize the oneness ofBrahman-atman, which is the only way for final salvation. India is a religious country. As earlyas the Vedic era, Indians had a strong belief that some kind of individual personality existed after

death, which was considered to be the primitive soul of a human.

Nonviolent Thinking in Indian Cult ural Values