From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
[pic]
[pic]
Bharatanatyam, one of eight designated classical dance forms of India
India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.[1]
Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8000 BC[2] and has a continuous recorded history since the time of the Vedas for over 5,500 years.[3] Several elements of India's diverse culture — such as Indian
…show more content…
He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society.[11] This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and spirits have an integral and functional role in determining their life.[11] Several differences such as religion divide the culture.[11] However, a far more powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and polluting occupations.[11] Strict social taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years.[11] In recent years, particularly in cities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even disappeared.[11] Important family relations extend as far as gotra, the mainly patrilinear lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth.[11] In rural areas & sometimes in urban areas as well, it is common that three or four generations of the family live under the same roof.[11] The patriarch often resolves family issues.[11]
[edit] Family
Main articles: Hindu joint family, Arranged marriage in India, and Women in India
[pic]
[pic]
A bride during a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony in Punjab.
Family plays a significant role in the Indian culture. For generations, India has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is a system under which extended members of a family – parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. – live together. Usually, the
Family Roles and Organization. Indian families are considered to be a close knit family unit. The man (the father and/or husband) is always considered the head of household. There is also a significant value placed on higher education and success for their children.
Family acts as a support in many ways. Since everyone contributes to the household, the Dadi treats everyone equally and when money is asked for any important purposes, the Dadi will provide the money no matter how expensive it is. Also, Dadi mentions that the family can bear anything, can suffer any lost because they suffer together. However, if one moves out, he is alone and have to provide solutions for himself. In the family, everyone works together; the dadi and dada work and make decisions together. Children do not have to work. However, if they leave the household, the daughter-in-law will have to manage everything on her own.
Scholars have traced the earliest origins of Hinduism to two distinct sources. The first being the Indus Valley civilisation. This civilisation dates back to the third millennium b.c.e. Postulates were made, indicating that certain features of Hinduism may have made their earliest foundations in the Indus Valley Civilisation. These include ritual purity and the worship of goddess deity for the purpose of fertility.
In the typical Indian family, gender construction manifests itself especially in the roles of men and women in the household. As Judith Lorber so aptly put, “gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities” which in turn, creates the social differences that define a “man” and “woman” (Lorber). It is these differences that are used to construct and maintain an established gender order within the family. In the conventional Indian family, the order is such that the roles of the women in the household revolve around the roles of the men. This structure was something that I saw from an early age in my parents’ marriage. Though my parents defied the Indian norm of the arranged marriage, they still represented the quintessential model of an Indian couple in many other ways. My mother left her job to become a stay-at-home mom when I was about six years old. However, even before she left her job, she was implicitly expected by my father to shoulder most of the housework including cooking, cleaning, and caring for my older brother
but, It is not the most preferred: Monogamy is the ideal and preferred form of marriage in only 81 cultures out of a sample 400cultures.
There are many forms of families around the world. The structure of these families are influenced by the culture around them. Family is defined as "two or more people related by blood, marriage or adoption. The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent with one or more children, to a married couple or polygamist spouses with or without offspring, to several generations of parents and their children” (226). There are many functions of the family unit around the world.
Just like any other culture the Indian culture had its own customs beliefs and practices. This beliefs and practices affect their lifestyles and interaction with the modern culture. One unique aspect of the Indian culture is their relation with guests. The Indians treat with high regards any guests that they host. They also hold close their economic status with preference for the wealthy status compared to the low and middle economic status. Religion is also highly held in the Indian culture. Indians hold the belief that god and goddesses are the drivers of one’s life.
Due to its government systems, legal systems, religious beliefs and systems, economic systems, urban culture, and writing and history, Ancient India was a very complex civilization. Ancient India lasted from 400,000 BC to 1000 AD. The Ancient Indian civilization first began in India, which is located in South Asia. Some of the world’s largest religions originated in Ancient India, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Ancient India was one of the most compound civilizations in the world.
India’s culture blends from it rich historic background and the influence of the current western culture. Hence, as Indians, we have grown up to be a very tolerant culture. We honor and respect all religions, races, and ethnic backgrounds. Our culture teaches us to have a deep respect for elders and has a tradition of joint families.
This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.
The consolidated nature of Indian families gives extended family members the power to have great influence over their younger relatives. If this aspect of Indian family life holds true, then it is natural for parents to have a colossal amount of influence over their children. In the Indian culture, parents are a symbol of unquestionable authority and the unmovable force of their household. We can see that Indian children are educated
Central Idea: India is a fascinating country with diverse traditions related to their language, their costumes, and their cuisine.
Though the joint-family is linked to ancient India, its still prevalent in modern day India. Traditionally, baby boys were preferable to baby girls since boys were able to earn money and support the family. Girls on the other hand, were expensive to raise. They didn’t bring home the bread and the girl’s marriage dowry required a hefty amount of money and other luxury goods such as valuable jewelries and saris. Once girls were married off to the other families, they would have to address their new parents-in-law as “father” and “mother”. As home maker of the family, the wife’s duty was to supervise the household and take care of the children, she also had to try hard to please her new in-laws.
Family according to humans is a group of comprised of a woman, her dependent children and at least one adult male joined through marriage or blood relationship. The family may take many forms, from single married couples with their children like in North America to a large group composed of several brothers and sisters with the sisters children like the Nayar of India. The particular form taken by the family is related to particular social, historical and ecological concepts. Households are task-orientated residential units within which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing and shelter are organized and carried out. Among the vast majority of human societies, households either consist of families or their
India is the country in which Hinduism began. India is a country located in Asia, the capital city there is New Delhi. There are some very high mountains (Mount Everest) on the northern border of India called the Himalayas. India has a mixed climates . Some parts of the country become extremely hot and others are cold. In India, the River Ganges is a scared river. People will often travel hundreds of miles to bathe in the Ganges because they believe the water will make them pure.