Among the most remarkable features of Indian culture, and the arts in particular, are its antiquity and continuity. Most cultures of the world have lost the continuity of their artistic tradition. In India, the performing and visual arts are based on an in-built system of creativity and innovation, and for this reason have endured for centuries, remaining authentic and never monotonous. Whether a housewife is painting symbolic motifs on the walls of her mud home, or a musician is singing in the classical Carnatic music tradition, improvisation and creativity are fundamental to their art. No two renderings of music or dance performances are ever the same, no wall painting or embroidery is ever repeated, no two temples are identical. This continuity has been facilitated by the family, the caste system and the characteristic qualities of Indian aesthetics.

Another unique feature is the integration within the arts in India. The same mythological story is rendered in music, dance, painting, a temple festival and embroidery. The code or symbolic representations that appear on a Buddhist thanka or hand-painted scroll also appear on wall paintings and sculptures and on masks used for ritual dances. Unlike the European tradition, the arts of India, both performing and visual, literary and religious, are integrated to a great extent. Along with this is the extraordinary wealth and diversity of styles that exist in all forms of artistic expression.

Music

Every state in India has a different language and a different style of music. In every Indian language, there is devotional and ritual music, as well as seasonal songs and dance to accompany harvest or sowing of the new crop. There are work songs, to be sung while pounding rice, and social songs related to the life-cycle of a human being, for example to celebrate birth or marriage.

Apart from rural and regional forms, there are two broad systems of classical music, Hindustani of northern India and Carnatic, which is popular in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Both traditions have roots in rural and tribal music and appear to have evolved from ancient religious music and chanting.

Dance and Drama

Dance in India is just as much a part of life as music. Every state and every community within a state has its own tradition of dances for festivals, religious rituals or social events like marriages. India has a population of twenty million tribals and each community has its own unique contribution to make. Each region in India has evolved its own dialect, script and literature. There is a great oral tradition through which poetry and other literary forms were passed from one generation to the next. In ancient India, Sanskrit was the language of the elite, used for religious texts, court literature and poetry. One of old India's most famous poet-dramatists, Kalidasa, is still held in high regard. His works include the lyrical love-story of Shakuntula and Kumarsambhava. Tamil literature of the Sangam period is equally famous. Epic poems such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were composed over a period of time, and there are several other language versions in present-day India.

Architecture

Famous buildings in India tend to be historical religious structures, forts and palaces. This is because large-scale monumental construction projects required heavy finances and royal patronage. This is not to suggest that there is no worthwhile domestic secular architectural tradition in India. Some village homes are valuable architectural designs. Built to suit climatic conditions, they are both environmentally sound and aesthetically and emotionally pleasing.

Painting

The earliest examples of Indian art are the work of Stone Age cave-dwellers whose paintings, the oldest dating back to over 5,000 years BC, still survive on the rock wall; of their primitive homes. Crude but lively they were executed in a wide range of natural pigments, depicting hunting scenes with large wild animals like the bull and stick figures engaged in ritual activities.

Handicrafts

Each area or region in India has specialized crafts depending on the availability of natural material: clay, precious and semi-precious stones, metal and wood. Such crafts have a long history because of their inherent value, the perfection of the design and its function. Wood is also used to make many household items and furniture. In south India, where lovely rosewood, teak and other fine woods are available, tables and decorative boxes, intricately carved and inlaid, are made with a high degree of skill. It is wise for tourists to enquire about the origins of such articles as some tree species, especially sandalwood, are endangered and now protected by law.

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