GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES

India is a fascinating country where people of many different communities and religions live together in unity. Indian Population is polygenetic
and is an amazing amalgamation of various races and cultures.

Indian people or Indians are people who are citizens of India, which forms a major part of South Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's
population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of many regional ethnolinguistic groups, reflecting the rich and complex history of
India. There are many diverse ethnic groups among the people of India. The 6 main ethnic groups areas follows.

1.Negrito

2.Proto - Australoids or Austrics

3.Mongoloids

4.Mediterranean or Dravidian

5.Western Brachycephals

6.Nordic Aryans

RELIGION

India is the birthplace of Hinduism,Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian religions. Indian religions, also known as
Dharmic religions area 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 2.5or 2.6 billion followers. India is also
the birthplace for the Jain, 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. Religion still
plays a central and definitive role in the life of most of its people. Islam is practiced by around13% of all Indians.

India contains the majority of the world's Hindus, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jains and India is also home to the third-largest Muslim population in the
world after Indonesia and Pakistan. Muslims are the largest religious minority

MUSIC AND DANCE

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular , pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including
Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and, developed over several eras, it remains fundamental to the lives of
Indians to day as sources of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. India is made up of several dozen ethnic groups,
speaking their own languages and dialects, having very distinct cultural traditions.

Dance in India covers a wide range of dance and dance theatre forms, from the ancient classical or temple dance to folk and modern styles.
Three best-known hindu deities, Shiva, Kali, Ganesha and Krishna, are typically represented dancing. There are hundreds of Indian folk dances
such as Bhangra, Garbaand special dances observed in regional festivals. India offers a number of classical Indian dance forms, each of which
can be traced to different parts of the country. The presentation of Indian dance styles infilm, Bollywood, has exposed the range of dance in
India to a global audience.

CASTE SYSTEM

The Indian caste system describes the system of social stratification and social restrictions in India in which social classes are defined by
thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed jātis or castes. Within a jāti, there exist exogamous groups known as gotras, the
lineage or clan of an individual. In a handful of sub-castes such as Shakadvipi, endogamy within a gotra is permitted and alternative
mechanisms of restricting endogamy are used(e.g. banning endogamy within a surname).The Indian caste system involves four castes and out
casted social groups.Caste barriers have mostly broken down in large cities, though they persist in rural areas of the country, where 72% of
India's population resides.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

India is probable the only country in the world where people belonging to different religions, castes and creeds, speaking different languages,
having different cultures, different modes of living, different clothing, different feeding habits, worshiping different gods and deity live
together in harmony and believe to be the children of one mother-MOTHER INDIA. They are one nation at large. They are governed by one
central authority, have one Prime Minister, one president, one Supreme Court and one army chief. This is why we say we have unity in
diversity. Geographically India is a vast country so much so that even one ofits states in bigger than many countries of Europe. But the whole
country is well bounded by nature. In the north is the Himalayan Range. On the other side is the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the
Arabian sea. This provides, natural geographical unity to INDIA> we have different religions in India. Apart from Hinduism we have the
followers of Budhism, Jainsm, Islam, Sikhism, Christiantity and parsees . But Hindus form the greater majority. There are, no doubt, different
factions, sections and sub-section but basically we all believe in the theory of Dharma and Karma. The theory of rebirth, purification of soul,
salvation, Heaven and Hell holds good for each and every one. We untidily celebrate the

festivals like Holi, Diwali, Chrismas, Id, Budh Jayanti and Mahavir Jaynti. This provides unity in diversity. India philosophy has developed on
India soil. It has not been borrowed from anywhere. This has blended the various cultures together. There are differences in overall conception
of gods, and modes of worship. These changes have been gradual due to interaction of different groups. But the ultimate aim of achieving
salvation and the fear of Hell keeps them all bound together. Very important characteristic of Indian society is the coexistence of different
ethnic groups. These groups formulated inter-group behavior. Hence there is no mutual interference as also no merging of their identity. There
might be some drawback in our constitution such as separate provision for different castes; particularly the backward and scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes but industrialization policy and agrarian reforms have generated a new secular outlook giving rise to a new culture.
Members of different castes and communities and followers of different religions have come together in forms, factories and educational
institution. As a result different cultures have been blended together thereby bringing unity among them. We have a cultural unity in India in
as much as our philosophy of life, our customs, creeds and traditions are basically, more or less, the same. The institution of marriage, the very
foundation of a society, exists all over the country and most of the rituals and sanskars are similar everywhere. Emotional unity plays its own
part. The name of Bharat Mata brings us closer and closer together. In spite of different languages and dialects, Sanskrit, the language of
Vedas, brings us all together because Sanskrit is the mother of all languages.

The outstanding features of Indian culture responsible for bringing unity in diversity may be summarized as follows:(a) We Indians lay
emphasis on spirituality, not on material wealth.(b) Religion has the most important place in India. We believe in Karma and Sanskar.
Performance of duty is our religion.(c) Religion tolerance is the unique feature of religions in India. Hence there is no difficulty in coexistence of
follower of different religion.(d) Hinduism, which forms majority of the population, has the capacity to absorb all good cultures. It has either
absorbed the immigrant cultures or has largely influenced them.(e) We have a very broad outlook. We preach and follow religion and
spiritualism without ignoring married life and worldly things.(f) We firmly believe in freedom of thought and freedom of expression because
such freedom enriches the culture which then becomes dynamic. Although unity to the desired extent has not been attained but allattempts
by foreign agencies to disrupt it or disprove it have proved futile. We might be subject to regionalism and casteism intrifling matters but we
always rise to the occasion in times of need such as foreign interference or invasion on our territory. This issufficient to prove our unity in
diversity.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

RELIGIOUS

In the religious sphere India possesses great diversity. Almost all the principal religions of the world like Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam
and Christianity are found here. Most of these religions are further sub-divided into various sects and divisions.

For example, Buddhism is divided into Hinayana and Mahayana; the Jainism is divided into Digambaras and Septembers and the Brahmanism is
divided into the Vaishnavas, Shivas, Shaktis,Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj etc. In addition the primitive men have their own peculiar cults which
are quite distinct from these major religions. Thus we can say India possess completely diversity on religious sphere.In the social sphere also
the general customs and manners of the people greatly different. People of different regions use different types of dresses. Their eating habits
and customs are also quite different. Certain people are quite civilized while other are yet backward in their customs, "India is a museum of
cults and customs, creeds and cultures, faiths and tongues, racial types and social systems.

LINGUISTIC

India also possesses linguistic diversity- It is said that almost 400 languages are spoken in India. Some of the prominent language recognized by
the constitution includes, Assamese Bengali, Gujrkti, Hindi, Kannad, Kashmiri, and Malayalam. Marathi, Or Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Terrill,
Telgu and Urdu. In fact it is commonly believed that in India the language changes after every four kooks. There is not only variety of languages
but also variety of scripts in India .

REGIONAL
India’s varied landscapes form a stunning backdrop to the collage of her culture. The majestic Himalayas, which border the country to the
north, have since time immemorial been home to sages, hermits and other spiritual seekers. The snow clad peaks that tower over the world
could very well be a stairway to heaven. In lower altitudes, thousands of wild flowers bloom every summer as if to adorn the gods who haunt
the mountains. Many of India’s great rivers originate in the Himalayas, the largest of them being the sacred Ganges. The Indian Himalayas
embrace five states in the north and north-east Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. In the north-east
the state of Meghalaya is a land of rain, waterfalls, gorges, and caves. The state has hundreds of caves, many of which are yet to be discovered.
Meghalaya is among the top 10 caving destinations in the world.

TRIBAL

Indian Tribal Culture speaks volumes about the diversity of the country. Unity in diversity is one of the most spectacular features amongst the
population of India. Among the diversified population, a significant portion comprises the tribal people, the original inhabitants of the primeval
land. Tribal culture of India, their traditions and practices interpenetrate almost all the aspects of Indian culture and civilization. In India almost
a new dialect can be witnessed each new day; culture and diversification amongst the tribal can also be admired from any land direction. The
tribal population is also pretty much varied and diversified. Quite manifestly, Indian tribal culture should assimilate and mirror a definitive
section of the society.The current tribal population of India is approximately 20millional together. Each of the tribes is a distinctive community,
either migrated from a different place or the original denizens of the land. These various tribes still inhabit the different parts, especially the
seven states of the North-eastern region and almost each and every nook of the country. The speciality of the Indian tribes lies in their
customs, cultures, and beliefs and, in particular, the harmony in which they survive in unanimity with nature. Tribal living perfectly portrays a
well-balanced environment, a procedure that in no way upset the ecological balance. Their customs mirror their confidence in simplicity. Most
of the tribes in India possess their own gods and goddesses, reflecting the dependence of tribal people on nature and animals. Except for the
few, most of the tribes in India are affable, hospitable and fun-loving, coupled with potent community bonding. Some of the tribes share
patriarchal cultural ties and some of the tribal societies are inclined towards women-oriented issues. Thus, they have their own festivals and
celebrations.