India being the largest democracy in the world with a civilization more than five thousand years old boasts of multiple cultural origins. The Culture of India has been shaped not only by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages, which were formed during the Indus Valley Civilization and evolved further during the Vedic age, rise and decline of Buddhism, the Golden age, invasions from Central Asia, European Colonization and the Indian Independence movement.

India’s languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian Sub continent and traditions that are several millennia old.

Regarded by some historians as the ‘oldest civilizations of Earth ‘the Indian tradition dates back to 8,000BC and has a continuous recorded history for over 25, 00 years. Several elements of India’s diverse culture-such as dharmic religions, yoga and curry-have had a profound impact across the world. Despite cultural diversity, the underlying unity is what defines Indian society.

Unity in diversity

Since the late 16th century India was under the influence of the British Empire until 15th August 1947 the day when India gained independence. India is a land of diverse cultures, religions and communities. There is great diversity in our traditions, manners, habits, tastes and customs. Each and every region of the country portrays different customs and traditions. But though there are different languages yet there is underlying unity in culture in terms of life style, religion, scriptures, customs. 'Unity in Diversity' has been the distinctive feature of our culture. There has been active participation from people of different caste and religion in our struggle for freedom

But unfortunately this peace and understanding among different communities has been endangered lately. India at present is facing many problems. The biggest of these is the problem of communalism. In their personal fight they are destroying their own life only. In fact, it is the biggest threat to humanity and to the unity and integrity of the country.

Cultural diversity in india

Religion [1]in india

Indian religions originated in Greater India and tend to share a number of key concepts, such as dharma and karma. They are of the most influence across the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, South East Asia, as well as isolated parts of Russia. The main Indian religions are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Tribal [2]groups in india

India is the home to a large number of indigenous people, who are still untouched by the lifestyle of the modern world. With more than 84.4 million, India has the largest population of the tribal people in the world. These tribal people also known as the adivasi's are the poorest in the country, who are still dependent on haunting , agriculture and fishing. Some of the major tribal groups in India include Gonds, Santhals, Khasis, Angamis, Bhils, Bhutias and Great Andamanese. All these tribal people have their own culture, tradition, language and lifestyle. Few examples include:-

Linguistic[3] groups

The country is divided into different states and union territories. Many of the states have been formed on a linguistic basis. No other country in the world has as many languages and dialects as India. There are 14 officially recognised languages. Hence there are numerous linguistic communities widely scattered across the entire country.

country full of diversity created a number or imperial and regional styles of art and architectures. These provide India with the spiritual joy of belonging, a reminder of a glorious heritage.

The raw material for the buildings and artifacts were provided by the locally available rocks and metals.