what can you say about arts in cultures in India in terms of Hinduism about their religion?

Question

please answer it now.. i need it.. tnx!:)

Answer 1

The history of India can be traced in fragments to as far back as 9500 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back to 3300 BCE. This was followed by the Vedic Civilization. The origin of the Indo-Aryans is under some dispute. Most scholars today believe in some form of the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, which proposes that the Aryans, a semi-nomadic people, possibly from Central Asia or northern Iran, migrated into the north-west regions of the Indian subcontinent between 2000 and 1500 BCE. The nature of this migration, the place of origin of the Aryans, and sometimes even the very existence of the Aryans as a separate people are hotly debated. The merger of the Vedic culture with the earlier Dravidian cultures (presumably of the descendants of the Indus Valley Civilization) apparently resulted in classical Indian culture, though the exact details of this process are controversial. The births of Mahavira and Buddha in the 6th century BCE mark the beginning of well-recorded Indian history. For the next 1500 years, India produced its classical civilization, and is estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient world between the 1st and 15th centuries CE, controlling between one third and one quarter of the world's wealth up to the time of the Mughals, from whence it rapidly declined during British rule.

Human civilizations in India are some of the earliest recorded, and were contemporaries of civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. India's history essentially includes the entire Indian subcontinent, including the more recent nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. India is also inalienably linked with the history and heritage of the other South Asian nations like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Outside of South Asia, India's history, culture and politics often overlap with neighbouring countries. India's culture, economy and politics has had an influence on the history and culture of the nations in South East Asia, East Asia and Central Asia, such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkestan over thousands of years. After Arab incursions into India during the early part of the second millennium CE, similar quests for access to India's fabled wealth strongly influenced the history of medieval Europe, after the landing of Vasco Da Gama. Christopher Columbus discovered America whilst searching for a new route to India, and the British Empire gained much of its resources after the incorporation of India as the 'Jewel in the Crown', from the late 18th century to 1947.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India

ART
Classical Music-
The origins of Indian classical music, the classical music of India, can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length.

The two main streams of Indian classical music are:
1. Hindustani music, from North India, and
2. Carnatic music (Karnataka Sangeeth), from South India.
The prime themes of Hindustani music are Rasleela (Hindu devotionals) of Krishna and Nature in all its splendour. Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Bhimsen Joshi, Ravi Shankar, Lalmani Misra, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ali Akbar Khan, Imrat Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Satyasheel Deshpande, Vilayat Khan are the arts' most popular living performers. Carnatic music is similar to Hindustani music in that it is mostly improvised, but it is much more influenced by theory and has stricter rules.It emphasizes the expertise of the voice rather than of the instruments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_musical_instruments

Classical Dance Forms-
India offers a number of Classical Indian dance forms, each of which can be traced to different parts of the country. Each form represents the culture and ethos of a particular region or a group of people. The eight main styles are Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Manipuri and Kathakali. Besides, there are several forms of Indian folk dances such as Bhangra, and special dances observed in regional festivals.

Most Indian dance is based on the treatise Natyashastra by the sage Bharata Muni, which explains the Indian art of acting. Acting or natya is a broad concept which encompasses both drama and dance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_dance
http://in.geocities.com/medhahari/classical_Indian_dance/classical_Indian_dance.html
http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/nritya.html
http://www.saigan.com/heritage/dindex.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatanatyam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathakali

Painting-
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. Such works continued and after several millennia, in the 7th century, carved pillars of Ellora, Maharashtra state present a fine example of Indian paintings, and the colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals. Thereafter, frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora caves appeared. India’s Buddhist literature is replete with examples of texts which describe that palaces of kings and aristocratic class were embellished with paintings, but they have largely not survived. But, it is believed that some form of art painting was practiced during that time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_painting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajput_painting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanjore_painting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhubani_painting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_school_of_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_painting

Architechture-
Indian architecture is that vast tapestry of production of India that encompasses a multitude of expressions over space and time, transformed by the forces of history considered unique to the Indian subcontinent, sometimes destroying, but most of the time absorbing. The result is an evolving range of architectural production that none the less retains a certain amount of continuity across history.

Indian architecture is as diverse as its culture. The architecture of India offers a unique blend of Vedic/Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Buddhist and British architectural designs. Until the arrival of Islam, Vedic art and architecture was dominant in India. The rise of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century established Mughal architecture in northern Indian subcontinent. The colonization of India in the 19th century paved the way for the development of Anglo-Indian architecture while Portuguese and French architectural designs prevailed in their former colonies in India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_architecture

Epic Poetry-
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written on the Indian sub-continent. Written in Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi, it includes some of the oldest epic poetry ever created and some works form the basis of Hindu scripture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_epic_poetry

CULTURE
The culture of India was moulded throughout various eras of history, all the while absorbing customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.

It is to be noted that in modern India, there is remarkable cultural diversity throughout the country. This cultural melting pot, comprising the various regions of India, namely South, North, and North-East, have their own distinct identities and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. In spite of this unique cultural diversity, the whole country is bound as a civilization due to its common history, thereby preserving the national identity.

The Indian culture also has had a considerable influence and flow of ideas from Persian, Arabic, Turkish,European and other Asian cultures. The various religions and the multihued traditions of India have influencede South East Asia(and to a minimal extent, East Asia}. India was the birth place of religious systems such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism, which have a strong prevalence and influence not only over India, but also the whole world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_culture

RELIGION
India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of the country and most of its people.

The faith of more than 80.4% of the people is Hinduism, considered the world's oldest religious and philosophical system. Islam is practiced by around 13.4% of all Indians.

Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are Indian-born religious systems that are strong and influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller (except for Christianity). Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics are also visible influences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_India

History of Hinduism (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, Sanātana Dharma; also known as, Vaidika-Dharma) is a topic spanning over 9000 years. Hinduism is a worldwide religious tradition that is based on what is believed to be the revealed knowledge of the Veda and indigenous beliefs and traditions of the various groups of people in India, since the dawn of the Vedic Religion of the Indo-Aryans. It is the world's oldest existing major religion.

Also being the world's largest polytheistic religion and being highly localised within many parts of India, Hinduism has seen many changes throughout the history of the Indian subcontinent. Like the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece or Rome, Hinduism encompasses the worship of multiple gods and goddesses and the performance of numerous rituals.
Historically, the religious texts of Hinduism also give an account of the lives of the Vedic-Aryans, their culture and social practices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hinduism

Texts of Hinduism
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm

Indian Philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvaka

Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0802/214.html

Various Other Links
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/in/
http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum210/tml/indiatml/indiatml1.htm
http://www.islamicart.com/library/empires/india/index.html
http://omenad.net/
http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen
http://www.vimoksha.com/
http://www.parrikar.org/

Answer 2

Hinduism is indeed older than all the current available religions. It is definetly older than Judaism. The Vedic religion is there since 2000 BCE, but some practices of the religion has shown that it could be there for even longer. Only the Vedas was written 2000BCE, but the practices of the religion exists many years even before it. Some say Hinduism is 6000 years old. I think that actually predates most of the religions, by a big gap, giving respect to the Aninisme practices whhich have been around since the stoneage time. So in short, Hinduism is an Old religion, and definitely older than all the current religions.

Answer 3

There is only one culture in India and that is based on Hinduism. But there are sub-cultures region wise.

Hinduism is the most tolerant religion in the world and this is reflected in its culture. Persecuted people from all over the world came to India and hospitality was extended to them with freedom to practice what they believed in. Examples are Christians during Ist century AD and Jews subsequently, Zorastrians from Persia during Muslim invasions of their country etc.

This is because Hinduism is not monotheistic. There is no my god and your god., but there is one God but many ways of reaching Him. Each has a choice to follow any path as per heart's dictates
Even those who do not believe in God are also part of Hindu stream (called CHARVAKAs). A rich religious literature developed on this basis which examined the Human yearnings from innumerable angles. And this shaped the culture.

India was the richest country in the world till four hundred years back. All Westerners as well as Easterners made a bee line to India thirsting for riches and knowledge.India was the only country in the world which never invaded another country nor imposed its religion on others.

This noble thinking shaped its culture. And art being an expression of culture too got shaped by it. fine arts flourished. however all had a single focus namely reaching the Godhead.

My laptop battery is low, so bye for now.




.

Answer 4

The arts and culture of India and Hindu religious philosophies shaped the course of development for ancient Greek and Mediterranean civilisations,particularly during the Ptolemy dynasty.

Answer 5

In Hinduism, apparently, they believe in only a few, if not one, deity, in various incarnations. One incarnation is evil, others are good. Their deity of death, who at one time, they often sacrificed people to, is the same as a deity that saves life, only in a differant form. Because of reincarnation, animals can be held at the same level as people. The spirit of an animal might be the spirit of your great-grandmother, just reincarnated in an animal. For this reason, people can actually marry animals in some areas of India. (Look in the news, and you will find some mention of this, though it is rare.)

Answer 6

hinduism is a religion which has a lots of goddesses and gods
the creater - brahma ,the caretaker - vishnu and the destroyer -shiva
brahma ,vishnu and mahesh are the chiefs
its quiet rich in terms of all the gods and festivals
cant answer in one go ... can help if you can focus your questions

Answer 7

they have no culturem, they are barbaric

Answer 8

good