India has a rich and unique cultural heritage, with established traditions preserved throughout history. It has always absorbed customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and even monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries. Famous monuments such as the Taj Mahal and others such as the Sun temple point towards the prospering of combinative elements as the medieval Islamic and the ancient Vedic.
Indian society is pluralist, multilingual and multicultural. Religious practices of various faiths are an integral part of everyday life in society. Traditional Indian family values are highly respected and considered sacred more so in rural settings.
A melting pot of many religions, India has a rich diversity of festivals with many being celebrated by one and all, imbued with pomp and vitality, and characterized by colour, gaiety, enthusiasm, prayers and rituals. The most popular celebrations include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra, and also Id.
Two main forms, in terms of Indian classical music are the Karnataka Sangeeth (Carnatic) from South India and Hindustani from the north. but popular forms, as filmi music are gaining more popularity. In addition to this are the diverse traditions of folk music. Many dance forms exist in India – Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathakali, and others. They often have a narrative form (based on the Indian epics) and are usually infused with devotional and spiritual elements. The culture of India is one of the oldest cultures in the world. In modern India, there is remarkable 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. In spite of the diversity, it’s bound by a common thread as one civilisation perhaps because of its common history and transfer of age old knowledge in the geographies.
Bollywood (the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based film industry in India) has an output, considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and, possibly, number of tickets sold.The cuisine of Modern India has great variety and each region has its own distinctive flavours.