Culture of India

Lore & Background

Indian culture has been influenced by a history several millennia old, beginning with the Indus Valley Civilisation and Vedic period. The British Raj introduced the English language, resulting in a local English dialect and influences on other Indian languages. Indian-origin religions—Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism—are based on dharma and karma, with ahimsa (nonviolence) being a key aspect, famously advocated by Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement, later inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel in the American civil rights movement. Foreign-origin religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and the Baháʼí Faith are also present.

Reader's Guide

Indian culture is significant for its profound and lasting impact across the Indosphere, Greater India, and the world, particularly through Indian religions, mathematics, philosophy, cuisine, languages, dance, music, and movies. It is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse nations, with religion playing a central role in many people's lives. The culture has been heavily influenced by Dharmic religions, with notable Austroasiatic (Mon-Khmer) influences on early India, including loanwords and rice cultivation. Greater India refers to the historical spread of Indian culture beyond the subcontinent via the Silk Road and maritime traders, especially Hinduism, Buddhism, architecture, administration, and writing systems. Despite a secular Hindu-majority population, India has a large Muslim minority and has experienced religious turmoil and violence between groups. The joint family system has been a prevailing tradition, with extended family members living together under the oldest male member as head.

Did You Know?

• India has 28 states and 8 union territories with different cultures and is the most populated country in the world.
• Indian-origin religions—Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism—are all based on the concepts of dharma and karma.
• Ahimsa, the philosophy of nonviolence, was used by Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement and inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel.
• Austroasiatic groups, such as early Munda and Mon Khmer, had noteworthy impact on local Indian peoples and cultures, including introducing rice cultivation.

Religious Roots and the Dharmic Heritage

India stands as the birthplace of several of the world's great faiths—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—collectively recognized as Indian religions that form a major branch of global spirituality alongside the Abrahamic traditions. These Dharmic faiths share foundational concepts such as dharma and karma, and the philosophy of ahimsa, or nonviolence, runs through native Indian belief systems. Mahatma Gandhi became the most celebrated champion of this nonviolent ethos, channeling it through civil disobedience to unite the nation during the independence struggle. That same philosophy later resonated across oceans, inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel in the American civil rights movement. According to the 2011 census, nearly 80 percent of Indians practice Hinduism, while Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism account for the remaining major faiths. Together, followers of Indian-origin religions represent roughly 80 to 82 percent of the population. Hinduism and Buddhism alone rank as the world's third and fourth largest religions, with combined adherents exceeding two billion.

Millennia of Cultural Layering

Indian culture rests on one of the oldest unbroken civilizational threads in human history, stretching back through the Indus Valley Civilisation and the Vedic period to the present day. This heritage is not monolithic; rather, it is a layered composite shaped by thousands of years of interaction. Scholars including Professor Przyluski, Jules Bloch, and Lévi have documented significant Austroasiatic influence—particularly from early Munda and Mon-Khmer groups—on ancient Indian peoples. This contact is visible in Austroasiatic loanwords embedded within Indo-Aryan languages and in the introduction of rice cultivation, which traveled from Southeast Asia through Northeast India into the broader subcontinent. Tibetic and other Tibeto-Burmese groups also left their mark on local cultures. Over centuries, a deep fusion emerged among Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, and various tribal communities, weaving together traditions in philosophy, literature, architecture, art, and music. The British Raj added another layer, spreading the English language and producing a distinctive local English dialect while simultaneously influencing other Indian tongues.

The Indosphere and Global Cultural Reach

Indian cultural influence extends far beyond the borders of the modern Republic, reaching across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and ultimately the wider world. The historical concept of Greater India describes the geographic spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, architecture, administrative systems, and writing systems from the subcontinent to other parts of Asia, carried by travelers and maritime traders along the Silk Road during the early centuries of the Common Era. To the west, this sphere of influence overlaps with Greater Persia in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains. Elements such as Indian mathematics, philosophy, cuisine, languages, dance, music, and cinema have left a profound imprint across the Indosphere and beyond. The term Indian culture itself applies not only to the nation but also to countries and communities whose histories are deeply intertwined with India through immigration, colonisation, or sustained cultural exchange. This outward diffusion means that Indian heritage is not a closed tradition but a living, radiating force that has shaped civilizations across multiple continents for millennia.

Diversity, Tension, and the Secular Mosaic

India's 28 states and 8 union territories house one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse populations on Earth. While Hinduism predominates in nearly every state except Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Lakshadweep, Muslims maintain large communities across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Assam, with majority populations in Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep. Christians form another significant minority. This extraordinary pluralism, however, has not been without conflict; India has witnessed violent religious clashes among Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs, and various national-religious political parties have emerged from these fault lines. Despite government secular policies, minority groups in certain regions face prejudice as dominant communities seek to control local resources. Yet the country also harbors a long tradition of atheism and agnosticism, rooted in the Śramaṇa movement and the Cārvāka school of materialist thought that emerged around the sixth century BCE, alongside a self-ascribed tolerance toward other faiths.

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