Book Review

 

Book Review:

Satyajeet Roy (2012).  Culture of India. New Delhi: Abhijeet Publications. Pp. 280.  ISBN: 978-93-5074-022-4. Price: Rs. 1070/-

Reviewed by

Pritish Chaudhuri

pritish.chaudhuri@gmail.com

Abstract

The following article is on a book review. This studied book provides a general view about the culture and heritage of India. Apart from providing the history of India this book also highlights the major religions, fairs and festivals, music, literature, diversity, etc.

India has a very rich cultural background along with very ancient cultural heritage preserved for thousands of years. The geographical vastness, varied religion, different languages and dialects, population variation, etc. has given birth to cultural spectrum. The other factors that also added flavour to its cultural spectrum are art, literature, fairs and festivals, customs, beliefs, tribal culture, flora and fauna, etc. The author has focused on all these above mentioned points in this book. He mainly highlights the Indian religions, society, fairs and festivals, dance, music, paintings, literature, languages, ethnicity, rituals, etc.

India is a birth place and home land of world’s famous religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. These religion originates in India and spread all over the world. Later on the culture of India was influenced by the Islamic invasions and subsequent Islamic rule from 10^th century. The Persian, Arabic and Turkish cultures had also left a deep impact on Indian culture. For example, the Mughals brought the Central Asian culture with them which was later on amalgamated in Indian culture. Indian culture has been influenced by various religions, cultures and traditions of the world from time to time which resulted in the mixture of values, beliefs, folk idioms, art forms, etc. The regional diversity, languages, religion, etc. has given birth to different customs. The varied forms of Indian culture exist in their totality all through the Indian territory. The religious influence is quite prevalent in its classical form chiefly found in rural areas and small villages, whereas the urban life is now a days influenced by the globalization. The British ruled over India for nearly two hundred years which paved the way to imbibe western culture and practices. Now English is spoken and understood in almost all over India. It is also a co- official language of India. According to the author, India is divided into many parts in terms of linguistic diversity; two hundred sixteen of them are spoken by a group of ten thousand persons or more. All the languages are mainly derived from Indi- Aryan languages and Dravidian languages. The Indo- Aryan languages are mainly spoken in north India whereas the Dravidian languages are spoken in south India. According to the constitution of India, both Hindi and English are the official languages for communication. The other twenty two languages are scheduled for official use by the State Government. The author has also provided the list of other eighteen significant languages (Aangika, Kokborok, Wagdi, Marwari, Chhattishgarhi, Magahi, Awadhi, Tulu, Kodava, Dogri, Persian, French, Portuguese, Bodo, Santhali, Sikkimese, Dzongkha and Dakkhini) and one minority language ‘Mahl’ which is very informative to know about the linguistic diversity of India. Sanskrit is not only the oldest language of India but also one of the classical languages of the world and is equated with Latin and Greek languages of Europe. This language has wide cultural and religious significance.

From the various periods of history, the culture of India was influenced and moulded by the invaders and immigrants who resulted in the mixture and absorption of various traditions, customs, beliefs, ideas, etc. The practices, rituals, languages, traditions, art, architecture and monuments are the examples of this co- mingling of culture from centuries.

In present day, there is cultural diversity all over India. All the parts and regions of India have its own distinct cultural identity. Despite of its diverse nature, India is known for its ‘unity in diversity’ because of its common history.

Conclusion:

This book serves as a reference book and guideline for the students, research scholars, academicians and teachers of Social Sciences like history, culture, tribal studies, law, society and technology. The book is also very helpful to know more about the rich cultural heritage of India. Apart from it, it will serve to the candidates who are preparing for competitive exams, college and university exams related to India history, culture, tribal culture and society. The administrators also are benefited from this book that as this book is proving information related to the past history and present scenario of India tribal and other relevant information. The purpose of this book review is to provide a reference to the scholars who are searching theme on the history, culture, diversity related matters of India. Sometimes all books are not always available everywhere, hence, book review serves as a summery in order to provide a basic information on the related issues.

Published in:   ADROITIC, Volume. 2, No. 1. ISSN: 2349-6274. (p. 30-31).

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