“The whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a community, society or social group. It includes not only arts and literature, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs. Culture encompasses the living or the contemporary characteristics and values of a community as well as those that have survived from the past.” – ICOMOS
This blog will revolve around the culture and traditions in exotic India. India is arguably one of the prime tourist destinations in Asia. It is the seventh largest country in terms of geographical proportion, and is the second most densely inhabited country with over 1.2 billion people. There is a wide assortment of religions in India with four of the world's major religions originated there: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. India's culture varies across the vast geography. The people may speak differently, dress differently, and behave differently, however, they are of the same temperament. A festival or celebration is never limited to just a family, it involves the partaking of the whole community in bringing the vigor to an occasion.
Before we move on, below is an excerpt abstracted posted by Sandeep Y, 26 October 2008, at ‘http://www.my-india.co.cc’ on the concised history of India:
Concise History of India
2500 BC: The Dravidian civilization
1500 BC: The Aryans invaded India and conquered the Dravidians
1400 BC: The Vedas, the Hindu scripture, was written
800-600 BC: The sacred scripture, the Upanishads, was written
518 BC: Persians conquered Pakistan
500 BC: Buddhism was founded in India by Siddhartha Gautama
500 BC: Jainism was founded in India by Mahavira Jains
326 BC: Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army moved into India
324 BC: The Mauryan Empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya which included Afghanistan and parts of central Asia
272 BC: Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, became the emperor of India
185 BC: The Maurya Empire ended
50 AD: The Kushans established an empire in northern India
320 -: The Gupta Indian dynasty reunited northern India initiating the "golden Age" of India
700s: Muslim armies from Arabia invade India
1206: Qutb ub-din Aybak established the Delhi Sultanate
1398: Timur conquered India causing the decline of the Delhi Sultanate
1498: Vasco da Gama, of Portugal, became the first European explorer to reach India
1500: Christianity was introduced to India by the Europeans
Early 1500s: Sikhism was founded by Nana
1526: Babur established the massive Mughal Empire
1600: Queen Elizabeth I, of the United Kingdom, granted a charter to the East India Company established trading posts in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras
1628: Shah Jahan, the ruler of the Mughal Empire, built the Taj Mahal
1658: The Strict Muslim, Aurangzeb, ruled India and tried to force Hindus to convert to Islam
1757: The Battle of Plassey - Robert Clive, an agent of the East India Company, led forces which defeated the Mughal governor of Bengal
1774: Warren Hastings was appointed the first governor general of India by the East India Company
1857: The Sepoy Rebellion
1858: The British government ruled India through an Indian Viceroy- called the British Raj
1876: Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India by the British Parliament
1885: Burma became an Indian province
1885: The Indian National Congress was formed
1905: The British government divided Bengal into separate Hindu and Muslim sections
1914 - 1918: First World War
13 April 1919: The Amritsar Massacre
1920: Mohandas K. Gandhi became the leader of the Indian independence movement and the Indian National Congress
1935: The Government of India Act created a new constitution
3 September 1939: The United Kingdom declared war on Germany beginning World War II
1940: Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanded that a new country be formed from India for the Muslims, which would be called Pakistan
1939 - 1945: WW11
August 1945: The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945: World War II ended
1946: The British government agreed to grant India independence if they could agree on a form of government
16 August 1946: Muslims held nation-wide demonstrations calling for the establishment of Pakistan
1947: British and Indian leaders agreed to divide the country into India and Pakistan
15 August 1947: India became independent
30 January 1948: Gandhi was assassinated
26 January 1950: A new Indian Constitution was ratified and Jawaharlal Nehru became the Indian first prime
1952: India's first general elections are comprehensively won by the Congress Party of India.
1962: Conflict between India and China over boundary disputes.
1965: Kashmir is again the cause of conflict between India and Pakistan before the UN intervenes.
1971: India and Pakistan go to war over the independence of Bangladesh.
1971: India signs a pact with the Soviet Union.
1974: India conducts its first nuclear test.
1984: The Gold Temple in Amritsar, being used as a refuge by Sikh separatists, is raided by the Indian army.
1984: Indira Gandhi, in her second spell as prime minister, is assassinated in New Delhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
1987: Indian troops are sent to Sri Lanka on a peacekeeping mission.
1990: The Indian army withdraws from Sri Lanka.
2001: More than 20,000 people are killed by an earthquake in the Indian province of Gujarat.
2002: War between India and Pakistan looms as Pakistan responds to India's testing of nuclear-capable missiles with tests of its own.
2003: India and Pakistan agree a ceasefire in Kashmir.
2004: The Asian tsunami kills thousands in coastal areas.
2006-2008: Terrorist attacks in various parts of India:
2006: A bomb in Mumbai kills 187 train passengers; police blame Islamic militants based in Pakistan.
2007: A train from New Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan is bombed, killing 68; many were Pakistanis.
2008: over 173 people died in a coordinated shooting and bombing terrorist attack.
Some basic information on India
India is a country in South Asia that lies on the Indian Plate in the northern portion of the Indo-Australian Plate. It has an area of 3,287,240 square kilometers, and has a population of 1,189,534,000. The nation's capital is New Delhi, and 28 states and seven Union Territories. (28 states: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal; 7 Union Territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Puducherry)
India’s climate can be grouped into four variations: Alpine, Subtropical, Tropical and Arid.
Sub Tropical: Common in most of the northern part of India. It is also known as the conventional Indian climate. Summers are hot and wet and rainfall is regularity in this period. Winters are cold and dry and temperature may drop down to freezing point in higher ranges.
Tropical: Can be categorized into two sub forms: Tropical Wet Monsoon and Tropical Dry. Generally, Tropical Wet Monsoon includes average to high rainfall as well as average temperature, which does not usually plunge below 18 degree Celsius. Rainfall is not such of a regularity in Tropical Dry category.
Arid: High temperature and low rainfall are distinct elements of this climatic zone. Temperature in this region may soar to 50 degree Celsius in summer.
India Temperatures in Farenheit
| Average Minimum Temperatures in India (°F) | Average Maximum Temperature in India (°F) | Average Temperature (°F) | Average Sea Temp (°F) | Average Precipitation/ Rainfall (in) | Wet Days (>0.004 in) | Average Sunlight Hours/ Day | Relative Humidity (%) | Average Wind Speed (Beaufort) | Average Number of Days with Frost | ||
| Temperatures in India in January | 45 | 70 | 57 | - | 1.0 | 3 | 7.6 | 62 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in January |
| Temperatures in India in February | 50 | 75 | 63 | - | 0.9 | 3 | 8.6 | 47 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in February |
| Temperatures in India in March | 59 | 86 | 73 | - | 0.7 | 3 | 7.8 | 39 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in March |
| Temperatures in India in April | 70 | 97 | 83 | - | 0.3 | 1 | 9.2 | 25 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in April |
| Temperatures in India in May | 81 | 106 | 93 | - | 0.3 | 3 | 8.1 | 25 | 3 | 0 | Climate in India in May |
| Temperatures in India in June | 84 | 104 | 94 | - | 2.6 | 5 | 6.4 | 39 | 3 | 0 | Climate in India in June |
| Temperatures in India in July | 81 | 95 | 88 | - | 8.3 | 14 | 5.6 | 67 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in July |
| Temperatures in India in August | 79 | 93 | 86 | - | 6.8 | 14 | 6.2 | 73 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in August |
| Temperatures in India in September | 77 | 93 | 85 | - | 5.9 | 7 | 7.5 | 65 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in September |
| Temperatures in India in October | 66 | 91 | 79 | - | 1.2 | 2 | 9.4 | 49 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in October |
| Temperatures in India in November | 54 | 84 | 69 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 9.5 | 44 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in November |
| Temperatures in India in December | 46 | 73 | 60 | - | 0.2 | 1 | 8.0 | 55 | 2 | 0 | Climate in India in December |
No comments:
Post a Comment