India Art In arts, India's sculpture, architecture and painting have had a rich history. The cave architecture of Ajanta and the cavewall paintings of Ajanta and Ellora, the temples of Khajuraho, the Mughal and Rajasthani paintings and the Taj Mahal are but a few examples of India's cultural heritage. The history of accomplishments in dance, drama and music is equally formidable and impressive. The classical dances still thrive in India, especially in its major forms-the Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak and Manipuri. Traditional crafts and textiles have been equally famous from times ancient. They also served to carry forward myths, legends, motifs and other aspects of a culture peculiar to a region. Some famous examples of the craft and art are the warp-weft type of dyeing as seen in textiles from Orissa (Ikkat), embroidery from Bengal (Baluchari), Banarasi silk-brocade from Varanasi.
	India Culture The Indian history is shrouded in antiquity. The country has been thought of as a nation of philosophers with a well-developed and even idyllic society. Excavations of sites belonging to the Harappan era show that the people lived in brick houses in towns with excellent drainage. One of the oldest scriptures in the world is the four-volume Vedas that many regard as the repository of national thoughts that anticipated some of the modern scientific discoveries. Despite formidable barriers in the form of the mighty Himalayas and oceans, India also received a succession of foreigners, many of them carrying swords and guns. India's cultural and social diversity is all-pervading and yet a harmonious balance permeates throughout the social fabric. Social attitudes are often based on traditional beliefs, religious adherence and through interaction with modern social and political concepts. India is a secular country. Hindus form the largest community followed by the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis. Seventy percent of the Indian people live in villages with agriculture or agro-based small industry providing the major occupation. With the large industrial cities and urban centres coming up, a new middle class and a new working class have emerged where the social and cultural order is different and pluralistic.
	India People Indian population is polygenetic and is said to be the melting pot of various racial mosaic. Few, if any, can claim to belortg to any particular stock. Nevertheless, many Indians pride themselves on their Aryan descent. The species known as Ramapithecaswas found in tjne Slwalik foothills of the northwestern Himalayas. This species believed to ie the first in the line of hominids (human family) lived some 14 million years ago. Researches have found that a species rescinbling the AustralopithecusUved in Indiasome 2 million years ago. Even this discovery leaves an evolutionary gap of as much as 12 million years since Ramawthecus. Races in India (as per classical pattern) According to Dr. B. s. Guha. The population of India is derived from 6 main ethnic groups: Negrito, Proto-Australoids or Austrics, Mongololds, MediteiTanean or Dravidian, Western Brachycephals and Nordic Aryans. Negroids, the brachycephalic (broad headed) from Africa were the oldest people to found only in patches among the hill tribes of south India (Irulas, Kodars, Paniyans and Kurumbas) on the mainland. But they survive day of the Saka month are given below: in the Andaman Islands, where they have retained their language. Proto - Australoids or Austrics were a race of people, with wavy hair plentifully distributed over their brown bodies, long heads with low foreheads and prominent eyeridges, noses with low and broad roots, thick jaws, large palates and teeth and small chins. The Austrics of india represent a race of medium height, dark (and in some cases black) complexion with long heads and rather flat moses but otherwise of regular features. Miscegenation with the earlier Negroids may be the reason for the dark or black pigmentation of the skin and flat noses. Austric tribes spread over the whole of india and then pass on to Burma, Malaya and the islands of South East Asia. The Austrics form the bedrock of the people. The Austrics laid the foundation of Indian civilization. They cultivated rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. Their language has survived in the Kol orMunda speech Mundari current in Eastern and Central India.
	Indian Fairs & Festivals India is a rich land which has attracted invaders from Central Europe and Asia who left their imprint on this land, its religions and its lifestyles over 40 centuries. The Greeks , under Al-exander the great, travelled as far down as the lower Indus River which they mis pronounced as the "Hindu River" Consequently, all the various in vaders, with their conflicting faiths, who inhabited the land of the Indus River were called Hindus and their land, Hindustan. It was shortened to "HIND", then "IND" and finally INDIA. Festivals in India are determined by the Solar & Lunar positions & they may fall in a different month as specified here. Kindly contact our members for exact date/ month of festivals/ fairs in India. January Common Festivals: Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Pongal, Thai Pusam, Float Festival, National Kite Festival, Kerela Village Fair, Bikaner Festival, Pattadakal Dance Festival, Id-ul-Fittr, Vasant Panchami February Common Festivals: Mahashivratri, Goa Carnival, Desert Festival, Nagaur Fair, International Yoga Week, Elephant Festival, Deccan Festival, Taj Mahotsav, Surajkund Crafts Mela, Chapchar Kut, Islands Tourism Festival March Common Festivals: Holi, Gangaur, Jamshed-e-Navroz, Ramnavami, id-ul-Zuha, Mahavir Jayanti, Khajuraho Dance Festival, Elephant Festival, Hoysala Mahotsava, Ellora Festival, April Common Festivals: Good Friday, Easter, Baisakhi, Gudi Padva or Ugadi, Pooram, Maharram, Buddha Purnima, Mewar May Common Festivals: Urs June Common Festivals: Ganga Dussehra, Hemis Festival, July Common Festivals: Rathyatra, Guru Purnima August Common Festivals: Janmashtami, Onam, Nag Panchami, Rakshabandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi September Common Festivals: Tarnetar Mela October Common Festivals: Navratri, Durga Puja, Dussehra, Marwar Festival Common Festivals: Sharad Purnima, Diwali, Guu Purab, Ka Pomblang Nongrem, Sonepur Fair, Pushkar Fair, Hampi Festival December Common Festivals: Christmas, Konark Dance Festival.