Cultural Contest -My Entry

Hello, fellow Steemit users. A country's culture is what defines it and its people. Culture is defined by the religion, language, architecture, art, and clothes of the people. I am now going to discuss the culture of my country.

My country India is the largest democracy in the world. It is a country in Southeast Asia. It is a country with a diverse variety of religions, languages, architectures, and many other things. It is the seventh-largest country in the world. It is the second-most populous country as well. Ours has a history much ancient and deep. Let's dive a bit more into the culture of my country -

^{https://unsplash.com/s/photos/indian-culture}
RELIGION

India is referred to as the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world. It dates back to a long time ago. Hinduism is the most spread religion here. A majority of the people in the country are Hindus. The next major religion is Islam. Apart from these two, there are Buddhists, Christians, and Jains.

^{The World Famous Ganga Aarti at Kashi
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LANGUAGE

The most spoken language in India is Hindi. It is our mother tongue. Our country also has a lot of regional languages. Almost all of the states in India have a regional language. Some of the regional languages in India are Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and many others. English is also spoken a lot here. Sanskrit which originated in India is one of the oldest languages in the world. It is said to have been written back from around 2000 BC as can be derived from its texts. Hindi is actually derived from Sanskrit. The regional language, Tamil is also on this list of ancient languages. Some also say that it is the oldest language in the world.

^{An old Sanskrit script
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ARCHITECTURE

Architecture in India diversifies with time. India has a lot of castles, temples, gardens, and other monuments. The architectural design changed according to the dynasties. The Rajputs, the Mughals, and so many others had their own style of architecture. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India is one of the seven wonders of the world. The architectural spots spread across the country are a great tourist attraction.

<sup>The Taj Mahal
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The Meenakshi Temple
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MUSIC

The Indian music also has some very deep roots. There are several music and dance forms. There are also several musical instruments such as Sitar, Tabla and Flute which are used to produce classical music. The classical music here is famous across the world. There are several ancient dance forms still in tradition such as Kathakali. Other popular dance forms here are Bhangra from Punjab, Bihu from Assam. Basically, every region has its unique music and dance form.

<sup>Many Classical Musical Instruments
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The Kathakali Dance Form
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FOOD

India is worldwide famous for its food. The spices and ingredients we use can be no found nowhere else in the world. From north to south, east to west, you will find several different cuisines and it is almost impossible to have tried every other dish as they are so many. The traditional form of eating food in India is with hands. Some of our famous food items are Kebabs, Dosa, Biryani, Jalebi, Chaat, and so many more.

^{Some Indian Dishes
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Art and Literature

The art here varies from place to place. Some very famous ones are the Ajanta Paintings and Mughal Paintings. The rulers here were great patrons of art. Rangoli is an art form made in the houses by people on auspicious occasions. We are also very rich in literature. The Vedas, the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita are all symbols of great knowledge and literature. There are several ancient scriptures found which tell us a lot about the country's history.

<sup>The Ajanta Paintings
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A Scene from Ramayana
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FESTIVALS

INDIA is a land of festivals. There are just so many celebrations here. We have Diwali, the festival of lights. We also have Holi, the festival of colors. Then we have several other festivals such as Raksha Bandhan, Eid, Lohri, Christmas, Dussehra. As every religion has its specific festivals, then due to a vast number of religions here, we have a number of festivals. People come flocking to this country to celebrate these festivals.

<sup>Diyas are a must on Diwali
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A Holi Celebration
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Lastly, I would like to invite each and everyone out there reading this post to come visit my wonderful country.

I would like to thank @belenguerra, @fendit, @writingnreviews, and @steeemcurator01 for organizing this contest.