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Religion seeps into every facet of Indian life.
Despite being a secular democracy, India is one of
the few countries on earth in which the social and
religious structures that define the nation's
identity remain intact, and have continued to do so
for at least 4000 years despite invasions,
persecution, European colonialism and political
upheaval. Change is inevitably taking place as
modern technology reaches further and further into
the fabric of society but essentially rural India
remains much the same as it has for thousands of
years. So resilient are its social and religious
institutions that it has absorbed, ignored or thrown
off all attempts to radically change or destroy
them.
India's major religion, Hinduism, is practised by
approximately 80% of the population. In terms of the
number of adherents, it's the largest religion in
Asia and one of the world's oldest extant faiths.
Hinduism has a vast pantheon of gods, a number of
holy books and postulates that everyone goes through
a series of births or reincarnations that eventually
lead to spiritual salvation. With each birth, you
can move closer to or further from eventual
enlightenment; the deciding factor is your karma.
The Hindu religion has three basic practices. They
are puja or worship, the cremation of the
dead, and the rules and regulations of the caste
system. Hinduism is not a proselytising religion
since you cannot be converted: you're either born a
Hindu or you're not.
Buddhism was founded in northern India in about 500
BC, spread rapidly when emperor Ashoka embraced it
but was gradually reabsorbed into Hinduism. Today
Hindus regard the Buddha as another incarnation of
the Hindu god Vishnu. There are now only 6.6 million
Buddhists in India, but important Buddhist sites in
northern India, such as Bodhgaya, Sarnath (near
Varanasi) and Kushinagar (near Gorakhpur) remain
important sites of pilgrimage.The Jain religion also
began life as an attempt to reform Brahminical
Hinduism. It emerged at the same time as Buddhism,
and for many of the same reasons. The Jains now
number only about 4.5 million and are found
predominantly in the west and south-west of India.
The religion has never found adherents outside
India. Jains believe that the universe is infinite
and was not created by a deity. They also believe in
reincarnation and eventual spiritual salvation by
following the path of the Jain prophets.
There
are more than 100 million Muslims in India, making
it one of the largest Muslim nations on earth. Islam
is the dominant religion in the neighbouring
countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, and there is a
Muslim majority in Jammu & Kashmir. Muslim influence
in India is particularly strong in the fields of
architecture, art and food. The Sikhs in India
number 18 million and are predominantly located in
the Punjab. The religion was originally intended to
bring together the best of Hinduism and Islam. Its
basic tenets are similar to those of Hinduism with
the important modification that the Sikhs are
opposed to caste distinctions. The holiest shrine of
the Sikh religion is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
India
is as close as the world comes to Babel. There's no
'Indian' language per se, which is partly why
English is still widely spoken almost half a century
after the British left India. Eighteen languages are
officially recognised by the constitution, but over
1600 minor languages and dialects were listed in the
1991 census. Language is a heavily politicised
issue, not least because many state boundaries have
been drawn on linguistic lines. Major efforts have
been made to promote Hindi as the national language
and to gradually phase out English. A stumbling
block to this plan is that while Hindi is the
predominant language in the north, it bears little
relation to the Dravidian languages of the south. In
the south, very few people speak Hindi. The Indian
upper class clings to English as the shared language
of the educated elite, championing it as both a
badge of their status and as a passport to the world
of international business. In truth, only about 3%
of Indians have a firm grasp of the language.
Indian
art is basically religious in its themes and
developments, and its appreciation requires at least
some background knowledge of the country's faiths.
The highlights include classical Indian dance, Hindu
temple architecture and sculpture (where one begins
and the other ends is often hard to define), the
military and urban architecture of the Mughals,
miniature painting, and mesmeric Indian music. The
latter is difficult for visitors to appreciate since
there is no sense of harmony in the Western sense,
but don't be put off by this.
Indians love the cinema and the Indian film
industry, centred on Bombay, is one of the largest
and most glamorous in the world. The vast proportion
of films produced are gaudy melodramas based on
three vital ingredients: romance, violence and
music. You'll know what to expect from the
fantastically hand-painted cinema billboards that
dominate many streets. Imagine Rambo crossed
with The Sound of Music and a Cecil B De
Mille biblical epic, and you're halfway there. It's
cheap operatic escapism, extremely harsh on the
ears, and should not be missed.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Hindus are
officially vegetarians. Although you'll find
vegetarians everywhere, strict vegetarianism is most
prevalent in the south (which has not been
influenced by meat-eating Aryans and Muslims) and in
the Gujarati community. There are considerable
regional variations from north to south, partly
because of climatic conditions and partly because of
historical influences. In the north, much more meat
is eaten and the cuisine is often 'Mughal style',
which bears a closer relationship to food of the
Middle East and Central Asia. The emphasis is more
on spices and less on chilli; grains and breads are
more popular than rice. In the south, more rice is
eaten, there is more vegetarian food, and the
curries tend to be hotter. Another feature of
southern vegetarian food is that you do not use
eating utensils; just scoop the food up with your
fingers - though not with those of your left hand.
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