A summary of the Indian culture and tradition
Since it has been evolving for thousands of years and differs from area to region, India has a rich and distinct culture. Many religions were formed in India, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and many more (Kumar, & Downey, 2019). In Hindu culture, they used heavy spices for medicinal purposes, preserving food and adding flavors to their food. India had 15 recognized regional languages, although Hindi was the national language. Indian women wore colorful silky clothes while males wore dhoti. Gandhi used to dress in a dhoti, which was seen as a dignified and respectful outfit.
Indian classical music had two significant traditions. These include Carnatic music, commonly found in southern India, and Hindustani music, found in the northern region of India. These two significant traditions were very close, but something happened between the 15th century and 16th century that forced differentiation between the styles used by the two traditions. Borrowing from Hindu belief, Carnatic music is commonly played at the temple and accompanied by the Bharatanatyam dance style (Kumar, & Downey, 2019). Hindustani music is always accompanied by the Kathak dance and is played in different places but not in the temple. Indian immigrants have brought Hindustani and Carnatic music to the different areas they have established. Carnatic and Hindustani music performances are frequently presented in Singapore’s art schools, theaters that hold music concerts and dance performances, and Hindu temples during festivals.
Beliefs and traditions of Indian culture
There are many fascinating practices and traditions in Indian culture. Numerous of these cultural characteristics, which vary significantly throughout India’s 28 states and seven territories, are drawn from the ancient Indian scriptures and manuscripts that have shaped Indian culture for millennia. Every family in Indian culture is headed by ‘Karta,’ a person responsible for making economic and financial decisions on behalf of the family (Kumar, & Downey, 2019). Grown-ups who were ready to get married got their partners appointed for them and traditional marriage arranged. Since this land had many people with different interests, several religions emerged, with Hinduism being popular.
Hinduism holds the cow in high regard, and in mythology, several gods—including Shiva riding his bull Nandi and the cowherd deity Krishna—are accompanied by cows. It is sinful and an offense to kill a cow and consume beef since the cow is their God. The enormous range of festivals, which include statewide, religious, and community-based celebrations, showcase India’s rich culture and customs. The Namaste greeting, also known as namaskar or namaskaram, which translates to “I bow to the divine in you,” is one of the most well-known practices and traditions in Indian culture regarding greeting the elders.
The Instruments used in Indian culture’s music.
Several Indian cultural musical instruments date many years back, and some are still used to date. Among these instruments are:
Sitar- This instrument’s body is shaped like a calabash, and calabash gourds are utilized in its creation. It has an average of 18-21 strings, with six or seven of them running across the bent frets on the neck. The other strings extend below the resonate and feel sympathetically with those plucked. The strings get plucked using a mizraab, a metal plectrum, to play this instrument.
Tambura- a four-stringed musical instrument that has a long neck used to produce a traditional droning tone in Carnatic and Hindustani music systems. The body is hollow and gourd-shaped, similar to the sitar, while the neck is constructed of tun wood. The strings get plucked using the fingertip’s soft part, and the movement is more akin to rolling or hitting the string rather than plucking it.
Bansuri- this is a transversal alto flute instrument constructed of bamboo that is used in classical Hindustani music. It has six or seven finger holes ranging from twelve to thirty inches. It is slanted slightly horizontally and downwards when playing, with the outer hole covered by the right-hand fingers and the other holes covered by the left-hand fingers.
The key attributes of the Indian culture’s music.
The critical attributes of Indian classical include timbre, texture, and rhythm. The timbre is nasal, penetrating, and intense in Carnatic music. As previously stated, Carnatic music is commonly used in the temple for praise, and it follows a specific rhythm that gives the music a composition structure and propels the music. Indian classical music has a very intricate use of rhythm. Additionally, there is a more vital link to the body since rhythm is played much more frequently using vocal and body percussion (Kumar, & Downey, 2019). In the Carnatic style, melodies are intricate, improvisational, and often pre-composed. They are based on Raag, a collection of notes and groups of notes that a musician may employ to create a melody. Western classical melodies often last significantly longer and do not have the same symmetrical structure.
Specific introduction to one piece of music from Indian culture with three examples
Carnatic music is one of the Indian classical music played by the people from South India. It is usually heard at temple celebrations and as a background to bharatanatyam dance performances. An example is a Music Titled: Kanaka Saila by Bombay S Jayashri which has been performed several times in shows and festivals in India and other parts of the world. ( www.youtube.com )
Reference
Kumar, A., & Downey, A. (2019). Music as meditative inquiry: Dialogical reflections on learning and composing Indian classical music. Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal, 4(1), Web.