CULTURAL DIVERSITY

The culture of India is the way of living of the people of India. India’s food, culture, customs,
cuisines, languages, culture, traditions, dance forms and art is different from place to place. It is
the land of ‘unity in diversity’. The high mountains, seas, river-irrigated lands, countless streams,
deserts and forests all these have enhance India with unusual diversity. Among the people there
are numerous races, castes, creeds, religions and languages.

India’s culture is among the worlds oldest; civilization in India began about 4500 years ago.
Many sources describe it as the first culture in the world. India is one of the most populated
countries in the world. The Indian culture, often labeled as a combination of several various
cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced and shaped by a history
that is several thousand years old.

Religious Diversity
India is the land of multiple religions. It has no official state religion. We find in India followers
of various religions and faiths especially of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, and
Christianity. With the different religions it causes different living ways and different beliefs.
Throughout India’s history, religion played an important role in India’s culture, customs and
traditions. Religion has taken far more seriously in India than it often is in the west and by
virtually the entire population. Followers of India’s religions, particularly Hindus and Muslims,
have created what Indians called communities, groups who largely coexist together but live and
worship in separate social circles. Accordingly, when violence does break out between groups, it
is referred to as communal violence.

Though Indian constitution provides freedom of religion to every individual 80% of the Indian
population professes Hinduism. Most Hindu shrines and temples are located in India as they are
the birth place of most Hindu gods and goddesses. Allahabad hosts the world’s largest religious
pilgrimage, kumbh mela, where Hindus from all over the world come together to bathe in the
ganga river as they believe all their sins will be washed away with the river. The influence of
Indian religions has been significant all over the world. Several firms have also spread Indian
beliefs and practices such as brahma kumaris and ananda margn. Hinduism is also known as
sanatan dharma or the everlasting religion. The Muslim population of India is the third largest in
the world. Among every thousand Indians, there were 134 Muslims. It came to India towards the
last quarter of the twelfth century A.D, with the Muslim invasions. The Muslim rulers in India
patronized it. They established long dynasties over large chunks of the country. While Hindus
and Muslims are found in almost all parts of India, the remaining minority religions have their
pockets of concentration; Christians have their stronghold in the three southern states – Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, and Meghalaya. Sikh is largely concentrated in Punjab, Buddhist in Maharashtra
and Jains mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.

Apart from this communalism played an important role in shaping the religion in India. The
divide and rule policy of the British kept India divide into two parts – the Muslim and the
Hindus. It also instigated riots in various parts of India, thereby killing a large number of
innocent people. The most alarming factor is however, is, and in recent times, communal
tensions and politics in the cover of religion is still making its presence felt although in a
different and more deadly form.

Every society’s population is classified into different parts based on their wealth, population or
education, which are considered as primary characteristics. Persons belonging to a particular part
of society are considered as a separate class. They have their own rules, traditions, customs,
values and desire for the efficient functioning of their community. Stronger the class
consciousness, greater are the chances of social conflicts.

The existence of religious diversity depends on the existence of freedom of religion. Freedom of
religion is weakened when one religion is given rights or privileges and denied to others.

Modern India chose to be secular. Its secularism does not mean absence of religion, or
irreligiousness; rather, it means multi-religiousness. It suggest abundance of religions, none of
which is privileged by the state and all of which is opened to participation by everybody.