Cultural Heritage

RELIGIONS IN INDIA: India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, jainism and sikkhism, collectively known as Indian religions. Religion still plays a central and definitive role in the life of many of its people. Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions are a major form of world religions along with abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 2 billion followers altogether, and possibly as many as 2.5 or 2.6 billion followers. India is also the birthplace for the Lingayat and Ahmadiyya faiths. India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures.

CLOTHING IN INDIA: In India, a person's social status is perceived to be symbolized by his or her attire.Traditional clothing greatly varies across different parts of India and is influenced immensely by local culture, geography and climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as saree for women and dhoti or lingi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as churidar for women and kurta pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular. Indian dress etiquette discourages exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes. Most Indian clothes are made from cotton which is ideal for the region's hot weather. Since India's weather is mostly hot and rainy, majority of Indians wear sandals.

DANCE FORMS IN INDIA: Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythologicalelements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyamof the state of Tamil Nadu, kathakof Uttar Pradesh,kathakaliand mohiniattamof Kerala,kuchipudiof Andhra Pradesh, manipuriof Manipur,odissiof the state of Odishaand the sattriyaof AssamAmong the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of Jharkhand, the Odishi of Orissa, the ghoomar of Rajasthan, the dandiya and garba of Gujarat, the Yakshagana of Karnataka and lavani of Maharashtra and Dekhnni of Goa.