Arts and entertainment in India

Arts and architecture in India have had their course shaped by a synthesis of indigenous and foreign influences that have consequently shaped the course of the arts of the rest of Asia, since ancient times. Arts refer to

spawned a whole new era of Indian architecture and art. Finally the British brought their own Gothic and Roman influences and fused it with the Indian style. They have a culture infusion in their art.

Architecture

The earliest production in the

With the arrival of Islam, a new style of architecture known as Indo-Islamic architecture emerged combining traditional Indian and Islamic elements. The earliest examples include the Qutb complex, a series of monuments built by successive sultans of the Delhi Sultanate.^[3] The architecture of the Mughal Empire includes the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Humayun's tomb, Jama Masjid and Fatehpur Sikri.^[4][5]

With colonization, a new chapter began. Though the

With the introduction of

, etc. Apart from this, the advent of globalisation and economic development since the 90s, has spawned a collection of modern IT campuses and skyscrapers, and as economic reform accelerates, metropolitan areas are gaining futuristic skylines.

Various examples of Indian architecture

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  Typical South Indian temple gopuram (temple gate) built almost a millennium ago, but as tall as a modern mid-rise.
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  gothic

  , Persian saracenic and traditional Indian architecture.
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  The massive Ellora Hindu and Buddhist temples were not constructed, but in fact carved out of solid rock from the top to the bottom.
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  The Great Buddhist Stupa at

  Indus Valley civilization ruins, and a World Heritage Site

  .
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  The

  Harimandir Sahib, known popularly as the Golden Temple

  , is a sacred shrine for Sikhs.
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  Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, location of the Bombay Stock Exchange is an example of 1980s Indian architecture.

Literature

Nobel prize

for literature. It is the first Nobel prize won by Asia.

Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. India has 22 officially recognized

).

.

The most renowned Bengali writer is Nobel laureate

.

Music

Indian music includes multiple varieties of

, and around the world.

Indian stars now sell records in many countries, while world music fans listen to the roots music of India's diverse nations. American soul, rock and hip hop music have also made a large impact, primarily on Indian pop and filmi music. Other highly popular forms are ghazal, qawwali, thumri, dhrupad, dadra, bhajan, kirtan, shabad, and gurbani. Filmi music is often said to have begun in 1931, with the release of Ardeshir M. Irani's Alam Ara and its popular soundtrack. In the earliest years of the Indian cinema, filming was generally Indian (classical and folk) in inspiration, with some Western elements. Over the years, the Western elements have increased, but without completely destroying the Indian flavour. Most of the Indian movies are musicals and feature elaborate song and dance numbers. There is constant work for pop music composers — or music directors, to use the Indian term. Movie soundtracks are released as tapes and CDs, sometimes even before the movie is released.

Dance

Indian classical dance is performed in different styles. Its theory can be traced back to the

.

Bharatanatyam is a classical

.

Odissi is one of the oldest surviving forms of dance, with depictions of Odissi dancing dating back as far as the 1st century BC. Like other forms of Indian classical dance, the Odissi style traces its origins back to antiquity. Dancers are found depicted in bas-relief in the hills of Udaygiri (near Bhubaneswar) dating back to the 1st century BC. The Natya Shastra speaks of the dance from this region and refers to it as Odra-Magadhi.

Kathakali (katha for

.

Kuchipudi is a classical dance form from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, a state of South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a small village in the Divi Taluq of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practising this traditional dance form, it acquired the present name. Mohiniaattam is a traditional dance from the South Indian state of Kerala.

with golden borders.

The Kathak dance form arose from the

. The new Muslim influence brought with it certain changes to the dance form: what had been a largely devotional practice now became more a courtly entertainment.

The Sattriya dance is believed to be a creation of the great

. He created this magnificent Sattriya dance to accompany the Ankiya Naat (a form of Assamese one-act play, another creation of Sankardeva) which was usually performed in Satras (Assamese monasteries). Since the dance developed and grew within the Satras, it is named after these religious institutions.

Folk dances are performed for every possible occasion, to celebrate the arrival of seasons, birth of a child, a wedding and festivals. The dances are very focused on gestures, postures, and expressions. The dances burst with verve and vitality. Men and women perform some dances exclusively, while in some performances men and women dance together. On most occasions artists sing the main lyrics and are accompanied by instruments. Each form of dance has a specific costume. Most costumes are flamboyant with extensive jewels.

Bhangra is a form of music and dance that originated in the

dance survives in different forms and styles all over the globe – including pop music, film soundtracks, collegiate competitions and even talent shows.

Thirayattam is a ritual performing dance of south malabar region (kozhikode and malappuram Dt:) in Kerala state. In Malayalam language, the word "Thirayattam" refers to a 'colourful dance'. This vibrant Ethnic art form blend of dance, instrumental music, drama, facial and body makeup, martial art and ritualistic Function. Thirayattam enacted in courtyards of sacred groves and village shrines, during Thirayattam festival.^[7]

Drama

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  Kerala, India
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  Rasa lila theatrical performance in Manipuri dance style
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  Tulunadu

  .
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  Koodiyattam performer Kapila Venu
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  A still from play 'Nati Binodoni', Bengali Jatra Theatre. Jatra is a popular folk-theatre form of Bengali and Odia Theatre.

Indian drama and theatre has a long history alongside its music and dance.

Shadow play

Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture and art, particularly regionally as the keelu bomme and

During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts.[14] In the 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra.^[14] The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as a folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India.^[14]

According to Beth Osnes, the tholu bommalata shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since.^[17] The puppets used in a tholu bommalata performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms".^[18] The process of making the puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense.^[19]

The tholu pava koothu of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in the Ramayana. A complete performance of the epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days.^[20] One feature of the tholu pava koothu show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as the wayang of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the same Ramayana story.^[20] There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play a major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra.^[14] Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India.^[14]

Sculpture

First sculptures in India date back to the

were not actually constructed using blocks, but instead carved out of solid rock, making them perhaps the largest and most intricate sculptures in the world.

During the 2nd to 1st century BCE in far northern India, in what is now southern

Persian

artistic influence. Artistically, the Gandharan school of sculpture is said to have contributed wavy hair, drapery covering both shoulders, shoes and sandals, acanthus leaf decorations, etc.

The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicacy in the modeling. Newer sculptures in Afghanistan, in stucco, schist or clay, display very strong blending of Indian post-Gupta mannerism and Classical influence, Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, less anatomically accurate styles of human representation evolved, leading to the classical art that the world is now familiar with, and contributing to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Asia. If you would like more information on this topic please let us recommend.

A selection of Indian sculptures of various ages and styles

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Painting

The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of

literature is replete with examples of texts which describe that palaces of kings and aristocratic class were embellished with paintings, but they have not survived. But, it is believed that some form of art painting was practiced in that time.

earned international recognition.

Indian art, ancient and medieval

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Cinema

India is a major regional center for

and it has a history of film making since 1936. The Bollywood industry is usually the largest in terms of films produced and box office receipts, just as Urdu/Hindi speakers outnumber speakers of other Indian languages within India.

Radio

Radio broadcasting was, until recently a government monopoly under the Directorate General of All India Radio—established in 1936 and since 1957 also known as Akashvani—a government-owned, semicommercial operation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. From only six stations at the time of independence, All India Radio's network had expanded by the mid-1990s to 146 AM stations plus a National Channel, the Integrated North-East Service (aimed at tribal groups in northeast India), and the External Service. There are five regional headquarters for All India Radio: the North Zone in New Delhi; the North-East Zone in Guwahati, Assam; the East Zone in Calcutta; the West Zone in Bombay; and the South Zone in Madras. All India Radio covers 99.37% of India's populace.

The government-owned network provides both national and local programs in Hindi, English, and sixteen regional languages. Commercial services, which were inaugurated in 1957, are provided by Vividh Bharati Service, headquartered in Mumbai.^[22] Vividh Bharati, which accepts advertisements, broadcasts from thirty-one AM and FM stations in the mid-1990s.

India has an extensive network of medium wave and shortwave stations. In 1994 there were eighty-five FM stations and seventy-three shortwave stations that covered the entire country. The broadcasting equipment is mostly Indian made and reaches special audiences, such as farmers needing agroclimatic, plant protection, and other agriculture-related information. The number of radio receivers increased almost fivefold between 1970 and 1994, from around 14 million to nearly 65 million. Most radios are also produced within India.

The foreign broadcast service is a function of the External Services Division of All India Radio. In 1994 seventy hours of news, features, and entertainment programs were broadcast daily in twenty-five languages using thirty-two shortwave transmitters. The principal target audiences are listeners in neighbouring countries and the large overseas Indian community.

Satellite Radio was introduced to the Indian market in 2000 by

, a Washington-DC based company. Currently WorldSpace beams 30 channels comprising music, news, and regional channels, a subscriber in India pays ₹ 1,200 per annum. In addition, some premium channels are available at an extra cost. This service requires special receivers which are often subsidized by world space.

Recently The Department of Space (DoS) indicated it is exploring the possibility of setting up a multi-media satellite platform that would include satellite radio, video and data channels.

Television

Television service is available throughout the country. Doordarshan is a government-owned broadcaster established in 1959 and a part of All India Radio until 1976. It operates of one national network and seven regional networks. In 1992 there were sixty-three high-power television transmitters, 369 medium-power transmitters, seventy-six low-power transmitters, and twenty-three transposers. Regular satellite transmissions began in 1982 (the same year colour transmission began). By 1994 some 6 million people were receiving television broadcasts via satellite, and the number was expected to increase rapidly throughout the rest of the decade. Cable television was even more prolific, with an estimated 12 to 15 million subscribers in 1994. Besides Doordarshan,

service in Chennai (1994). In a communications breakthrough in July 1995, Doordarshan agreed, for a US$1.5 million annual fee and 50 percent of advertising revenue when it exceeds US$1.5 million, to allow CNN to broadcast twenty-four hours a day via an Indian satellite. regional, and local service. The number of television sets increased from around 500,000 in 1976 to 9 million in early 1987 and to around 47 million in 1994; increases are expected to continue at around 6 million sets per year. More than 75 percent of television sets were black and white models in 1992, but the proportion of colour sets is increasing annually. Most television sets are produced in India.

Major events

Professional events

• Lakme Fashion Week
• Ponds Femina Miss India
• Global Festival of Films on Peace and Spirituality

Amateur events

• Culfests in India

Sport

References

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.

External links