India, the world’s second-most populated nation, is home to several ethnic groups, languages, and religions that all contribute to its extraordinarily diversified culture. India has a cultural past that dates back more than 4,500 years! Travelers may experience a fusion of traditional sarees and contemporary suits, learn yoga, and visit street-side food carts serving fried fish and veggies in the nation bordered by the breathtaking Himalayan Mountains and the Ganges River.

People and Community in India

India, the world’s second-most populated nation, is home to several ethnic groups, languages, and religions that all contribute to its extraordinarily diversified culture. India has a cultural past that dates back more than 4,500 years! Travelers may experience a fusion of traditional sarees and contemporary suits, learn yoga, and visit street-side food carts serving fried fish and veggies in the nation bordered by the breathtaking Himalayan Mountains and the Ganges River.

Family loyalty is highly valued in India. Families are the center of Indian society and offer everything for their offspring. Parental decisions influence marriages, occupations, and courses of study. Parents are the ones who know best about this established way of life; it is not coercion. Given the fierce competition, parents have high expectations for their kids. It was common for kids to pursue careers similar to those of their parents. Though this is shifting, sons in business families still tend to follow their father. Though parents are usually protective and the family is a cocoon, it is becoming more typical for urban parents to push their kids toward greater independence—as long as it is within reason.

Within families or with friends Indians share everything, including the food on their plates or in their tiffin/lunch boxes. The concept of “yours” and “mine” is not so pronounced as it is in the West.

Indian Religion

India is identified as the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism, the third and fourth largest religions. About 84 percent of the population identifies as Hindu, according to the “Handbook of Research on Development and Religion,” edited by Matthew Clarke (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). There are many variations of Hinduism, and four predominant sects — Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya and Smarta.

About 13 percent of Indians are Muslim, making it one of the largest Islamic nations in the world. Christians and Sikhs make up a small percentage of the population, and there are even fewer Buddhists and Jains, according to the “Handbook.”

The CIA cited similar figures. According to its World Factbook, around 80 percent of the population is Hindu, 14.2 percent is Muslim, 2.3 percent is Christian, 1.7 percent is Sikh and 2 percent is unspecified.

Indian festivals and holidays are some of the most exciting in the world – especially that of Holi, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil and is celebrated by people throwing colorful paints and powders at each other in the streets until the whole town is rainbow-colored! Another major holiday in India is Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights! It is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and denotes the start of the fiscal year in India.

Indian Language

Hindi and English are the official languages of India. There are 22 different languages that have been recognized by the Constitution of India, as well as other local languages and dialects depending on the area that help shape the culture of India.

Indian Food

Food is a big part of the culture of India, and it is quite diverse depending on the region. Full of flavor and often spicy, pungent, oily, and deep-fried, meals are a great time to socialize and be with family. Indian cuisine consists of lots of vegetables, beans, lentils, rice, and only sometimes meat, so vegetarians will have plenty of options to choose from. Meat is only an additive portion of a meal, not the main portion. Even those who eat meat are used to eating a lot of vegetable dishes, plus the staple of bread and rice.

Architecture and art

The most well-known example of Indian architecture is the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to honor his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles. India also has many ancient temples.

India is well known for its film industry, which is often referred to as Bollywood. The country’s movie history began in 1896 when the Lumière brothers demonstrated the art of cinema in Mumbai, according to the Golden Globes. Today, the films are known for their elaborate singing and dancing.

Indian dance, music and theater traditions span back more than 2,000 years, according to Nilima Bhadbhade, author of “Contract Law in India” (Kluwer Law International, 2010). The major classical dance traditions — Bharata Natyam, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam and Kathakali — draw on themes from mythology and literature and have rigid presentation rules.

A study published in April 2016 in the Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology found that some Indian horns have many similarities with horns made in Ireland. This research may suggest that the two countries may have exchanged ideas and techniques in making musical instruments during the Bronze Age. “Some horns are frankly shockingly similar, to the point where it is like witnessing time travel,” study author Billy Ó Foghlú, an archaeologist and doctoral student at the Australian National University in Canberra, told Live Science. “If I were to find one of these modern Indian instruments in an Irish archaeological excavation and I didn’t know what I was looking at, I would likely assume it was a Late Bronze Age Irish artifact.” [Surprising Echo of Ancient Irish Horns in Indian Instruments] 

Indian Clothing

Indian clothing is closely identified with the colorful silk saris worn by many of the country’s women. A traditional piece of clothing for men is the dhoti, an unstitched piece of cloth that is tied around the waist and legs. Men also wear a kurta, a loose shirt that is worn about knee-length. For special occasions, men wear a sherwani or achkan, which is a long coat that with a collar having no lapel. It is buttoned up to the collar and down to the knees. A shorter version of a sherwani is called a Nehru jacket. It is named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s prime minister from 1947 to 1964, but Nehru never wore a Nehru jacket. He preferred the achkan, according to Tehelka, an Indian newspaper. The Nehru jacket was primarily marketed to Westerners.