Some of the most popular Indian foods include rice,
lentils, vegetables, curry and chicken. Spices are a main feature of Indian food, mainly cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric, black mustard seeds and coriander. Other common foods eaten in India include wheat, barley, bread, chickpeas, cheese, beans, yogurt, coconut, cashews and almonds. About half the people eat rice as their main, while the remainder survive on wheat, barley, maize, and millet. Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Christians all eat meat, with the important condition that the first three groups do not consume pork. Lower-caste Hindus eat any meat except beef, whereas members of the higher castes and all Jains are normally vegetarian, with most even avoiding eggs. Indian cooking is also influenced by many other countries. It is known for its large assortment of dishes and its generous use of herbs and spices. Cooking styles vary from region to region. Wheat, Basmati rice and pulses with Chana (Bengal gram) are important mains of the Indian diet. The food is rich with curries and spices, including ginger, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, dried hot peppers, and cinnamon. Many Hindus are vegetarians, but lamb and chicken are common in main dishes for non- vegetarians. Much of Indian food is eaten with fingers or bread. There is a wide collection of breads served with meals, including naan, a leavened, oven-baked flatbread, and bhatoora, a fried, fluffy flatbread common in North India and eaten with chickpea curry. What do they wear? The traditional Salwar-Kurta or the Salwar-Kameez was the result of the practice followed by Muslim women to wear divided garments during the Mughal time. This dress has survived to this day and has a variant called Chooridar in which the salwar is replaced by the Chooridar a tapering pant with folds at the bottom. The Lehenga is another dress that had its origins during Mughal times. It was believed to be a dress that defined Indian values completely, which is probably why it has survived to this day. Even now, it makes use of Mughal time patterns and designs though it has been given many contemporary designs as well. Although the people in India wear mixed clothing depending on the region, many women wear saris while men wear dhotis. The cultural traditions and society of the regions populations as well as the climate and geographical features of the region largely control what people wear. Mehndi or Hanna is a form of body art from Ancient India, in which decorative designs are created on a person's body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant. Henna is a Cultural Symbol of Love, thats why it is mostly put on at indian weddings. What language/s are spoken in the country? Hindi English Bengali Telugu Marathi Tamil Urdu Kannada Gujarati Odia Malayalam Sanskrit Hinduism What religion or religions are found in the country Islam Christianity Sikhism Buddhism Jainism Zoroastrianism Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) What are their beliefs? India is identified as the origin of Hinduism and Buddhism, the third and fourth largest religions. About 84 percent of the population identifies as Hindu. There are many differences of Hinduism, and four main groups Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya and Smarta. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism 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. Language India has 28 states and seven territories. There is no official language in India. The different states of India have different official languages, some of them not recognized by the central government. Some states have more than one official language. It is a misunderstanding that the majority of people in India speak Hindi. Though many people speak Hindi in India, 59 percent of India residents speak something other than Hindi. Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu are some other languages spoken in the country. Customs and celebrations The country celebrates Republic Day (Jan. 26), Independence Day (Aug. 15) and Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (Oct. 2). Diwali is the largest and most important holiday to India. It is a five-day festival known as the festival of lights because of the lights lit during the celebration to symbolize the inner light that protects them from spiritual darkness. Holi, the festival of colours, also called the festival of love, is popular in the spring. Cultural India In India, there is amazing cultural diversity throughout the country. 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 diverse and exclusive as India. India is a massive country, having variety of geographical features and climatic conditions. India is home to some of the most ancient cultures, including four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Indian culture is a merged mixture of changing styles and influences. In the matter of cooking, for instance, the North and the South are totally different. Festivals in India are considered by colour, cheerfulness, 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. Cultural music The music of India includes multiple varieties of Indian classical music, folk music, Filmi and Indian pop. India's classical music tradition, including Hindustani music and Carnatic. Music in India began an important part of socio-religious life. Music has always been an important part of Indian life. The range of musical wonder in India extends from simple melodies to what is one of the most well- developed "systems" of classical music in the world. There are references to various string and wind instruments, as well as several kinds of drums and cymbals, in the Vedas.
Sitar is the most popular music
instruments of North India. The Sitar has a long neck. Below the frets of the Sitar are thirteen sympathetic strings which are tuned to the notes of the Raga. A gourd, which acts as a resonator for the strings is at the lower end of the neck of the Sitar. Social organisation Societies may be divided roughly into those in which the organization was loose, the units being families or bands and descent being counted prevailingly in the male line, and those which were divided into clearly defined groups called clans, which were strictly exogamic. Where clans exist the distinctive character of each is very strongly defined, and a man can become a member only by birth, adoption, or transfer in beginning from his mothers to his fathers clan. Over the last ten years womens participation in India workforce is on the decline. Gender Roles It is said that a woman must first obey her father, then her husband, and then her son; this seems to be the normal pattern as she goes through life. The opinion of the male head of household is especially important in the arrangement of marriages, because in most religious communities these are effectively marriages between two families.