Indian dance and culture

India cultural heritage is unique because of its diversity and variety in physical, religious, racial and artistic fields. In India religion is believed to be a way of life.




Many dances, theatrics and folklore are religious and based on Indian mythology and a person can very well understand the culture of India. Indian tradition of theatre is rich and comprises with the ancient rituals of the country.

Dance has played an important role in the birth of theatre. There are many kinds of folklore depending on certain content such as festival songs, work songs, marriage songs etc. Festival and religious songs are usually accompamied by a suitable dance form.

It is believed that Lord Brahma created Natyaveda. Sage Bharata who wrote Natya Shastra which is a great comprehensive work on the science and technique of Indian drama and through this medium, common man was presented with the Ithihasas, Puranas, and Mythology.

Himachal Pradesh and its culture

Himachal Pradesh is a blend of several religions, culture as well as it is a multilingual state like other Indian states. Some of the most commonly spoken languages includes Hindi, Punjabi, Pahari, Dogri, Mandeali, Kangri and Kinnauri.




The Hindu communities living in Himachal Pradesh include the Brahmins, Rajputs, Kannets, Rathis and Kolis. Tribal population in the state comprises of Gaddis, Kinnars, Gujjars, Pangawals and Lahaulis. Their traditional dresses includes dhoti, kurta, coat, waistcoat, turban and a hand towel while that of the Rajput male consists of tight fitting churidar pyjamas, a long coat and a starched turban.

Himachal is well known for its handicrafts. Himachali caps are also famous art work of the people. Music and dance reflects the cultural heritage of the state. There are number of other fairs and festivals that play an important role to Himachal Pradesh.




Himachalis cuisine is very similar to the rest of the north India. Some of the specialities of Himachal food include Pateer, Chouck, Bhagjery and Til ki chutney.

The people of Himachal have rich cultural heritage and you must visit Himachal as to know more about their cultural and religious life.

Maharashtra's Culture

Maharashtra boasts of a rich cultural heritage in India. Maharashtra is a blend of different races, traditions and classes. In Maharashtra, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with as much enthusiasm as Diwali and Holi. The people of Maharashtra celebrate a large number of fairs and festivals through exploring its various dance forms. The most famous dance form of Maharashtra is Lavani.



Maharashtra is one of the geographically most diverse states in India. You will find Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Buddhist, Zoroastrians, Christians and Sikhs, co-existing peacefully in the state.

Maharashtra, with it's large population of inhabitants is the second most populous state in India. The large number of people that reside in the state belong to numerous religions and communities.

The important tourist centers in the state include Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Kanheri and Karla caves, Mahabaleshwar, Matheran, Panchgani, Jawhar, Malshej Ghat, Amboli, Chikaldhara and Panhala hill resorts and various religious places.

Karva Chauth

Festivals of India are the great essence of the Indian cultural heritage. Most religious festivals have elaborate prayers, traditions, customs and rituals attached to them. The colorful festivals are an integral part of every Indians. Karva Chauth is the most important festival for Indian woman.




The festival is celebrated nine days before Diwali around October-November. Married women, old and young, begin their fast on the day of Karva Chauth well before sunrise around 4 a.m. and fast for the whole day and pray for the long lives oftheir husbands.

On this ocassion women wear bright and beautiful clothes, don’t scrimmage on their jewellery, pamper themselves by buying bangles and apply henna on their palms and feet. The puja ends with the women showering rice and vermilion on Parvati and seeking her blessings for the well being of the husband and for marital bliss.

Traditional Indian Clothing

Traditional Indian clothing has come into notice once again in India which is also a part of Indian cultural heritage. In this section lets talk about the traditional clothing that is prominent in Indian culture-





Dhoti kurta is the traditional Indian clothing of men. Dhoti is known by different names at different places such as Laacha in Punjabi, dhuti in Bangla.The term Kurta is used to refer to a long loose shirt, the length of which falls below or may be just above the knees. Now it can be weared by both men and women.

Salwar kameez is the traditional Indian clothing for women. The fashion of Shalwar Kameez is a wonderful attire that simply graces women beauty yet simplicity. Saree another traditional dress that is worn by Indian women.

Sherwani is a long coat resembling achkan in styling. It adds a real charm and grace to the men attire, especially the taller ones. Turban is tied a long piece of unstitched cloth, which is wrapped around the head.

The creative fashion designers of today are in a lookout for ethnic designs that take us close to our cultural roots and remind us of the glorious past.

Cultural Heritage of India

India's culture is one of the oldest and unique. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche.

There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, including four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.




A combination of these factors has resulted into an exclusive culture- Indian culture. Indian culture is a composite mixture of varying styles and influences. In the matter of cuisine, for instance, the North and the South are totally different.

Festivals in India are characterized by color, gaiety, enthusiasm, prayers and rituals. In the realm of music, there are varieties of folk, popular, pop, and classical music. The classical tradition of music in India includes the Carnatic and the Hindustani music.

Languages in India

The cultural heritage of India has its roots in the different components of culture i.e. musical heritage, dances, sculpturing and other fine arts, festivities, languages spoken, traditional beliefs and customs, food and many more like these.





Indian languages have evolved from different stocks and are closely associated with the different ethnic groups of India. Broadly the Indian languages can be put into six groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, Negroid, Austric and Others. The number of languages listed for India is 418.

At present India has 18 officially recognised languages which are mentioned in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution. Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the Union of India while the regional languages are the official languages of the state. English is the second official language and is also the authoritative, legislative and judicial language.

Indo-Aryan language is the most important family of Indian languages and comprises of all the principal languages of northern and western India such as Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, Rajasthani, Assamese, Oriya, Pahari, Bihari, Kashmiri, Urdu and Sanskrit.

Dravidian is the second most important group and comprises mainly of languages spoken in the Southern India. The Sino-Tibetan or Mongoloid speech family has a considerably vast expanse in India and stretches all over the sub-Himalayan tracts, covering North Bihar, North Bengal, Assam up to the north-eastern frontiers of the country.

The Austric languages of India belong to the Austro-Asiatic sub-family. The most important language of the Austric group is Santhali, which is spoken by over 5 million Santhals and is the largest spoken among the Adivasi languages. Mundari, spoken by about a million Mundas, is another important language of this group. lastly if we talk about other languages, there are several Dravidian adivasi languages like Gondi, Oraon or Kurukh, Mal-Pahariya, Khond and Parji which are very distinct and cannot be classified in other groups.