South Indian culture

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

South Indian culture refers to the cultural region typically covering the

sculptures.[1][2][3][4][5]

Traditional clothing

The weave of Calico sample from a shopping bag shown against a centimetre scale.

The clothing of South India is highly diverse, but is connected by a common cultural ancestry. South Indian women are known to traditionally wear the

Natyashastra.[1][2][3][4][5] These principles of the sari, also hold for other forms of drapes, like the lungi or mundu or panchey (a white lungi with colourful silk borders in kannada), worn by men.[6]
The lungi is draped over clockwise or counterclockwise and is tied at the back or fixed just along the waistline. It's sometimes lifted to the knee and tied at the waist leisurely or just held in hand to speed up walking.

Traditionally, South Indian men do not cover their upper body. Sometimes, in a formal situation, a piece of cloth may cover the upper body. Certain temples in South India even ban men from wearing upper-body garments when inside the temple. In Andhra and parts of north Karnataka, men wear kachche panchey where it is tied at back by taking it between legs. A similar pattern is seen in women. All over the peninsular coastal region, men wear coloured lungis and women wear saris in a manner of tying them at the back.

Calico, a plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton, was originated at Calicut (Kozhikode), from which the name of the textile came, in South India, now Kerala, during the 11th century,[7] where the cloth was known as Chaliyan.[8] The raw fabric was dyed and printed in bright hues, and calico prints later became popular in the Europe.[9]

Cuisine

plantain leaves
endures in South India, especially at formal events.

Food habits are diverse even regionally and are largely based on the traditions.

Malabar region. Tamil Nadu is well known for its Idli, Dosa
, Pongal, Sambhar, Vada, Puri, which are the common breakfast in Tamil families. Among the Malayalees, Appam, Puttu, Upamav, Malabar biriyani are some of the common dishes. In Karnataka, Bisibele bath, Kara bath, Kesari bath, Raggi mudda, Udin Vada, Bene Masala Dosa, Paper Dosa are some of the common dishes.

A Thalassery cuisine which makes use of Malabar spices

southwestern coast of India.[12][13]

During

Arab traders being particularly active. The Thalassery cuisine, a style of cuisine originated in the Northern Kerala
over centuries, makes use of such spices

Music

South Indian Dance
  • Ancient Sanskrit drama tradition Koodiyattam. Nātyāchārya Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār as Ravana.
    Ancient Sanskrit drama tradition
    Māni Mādhava Chākyār as Ravana
    .
  • Thirayattam, an ethnic dance form of Kerala.
    Thirayattam, an ethnic dance form of Kerala.

There is a variety of music. It ranges from rural folk music to the sophisticated

Swati Tirunal
. It is difficult to discuss the culture and music of the four states of South India in a single breath. In Tamil Nadu, there is Tamil Pann, which is sung by Oduvars in Temples. They sing the works of famous Tamil Poets like Sambandar, etc. in various panns (another word for raagas).

Hindu Temple Music

The main instrument that is used in south Indian Hindu temples is the (nadaswaram) It is said to have been created when the very first temple was established in South India. The nadaswaram and the (thavil) were played together in South Indian temples to create a periya melam ensemble. Because of its harsh tone, periya melam is not favored by many Europeans, but to South India, it is a sound of pride and majesty. For many temple traditions, periya melam is necessary for worshippers to feel a spiritual presence. Periya melam is used to play for daily rituals inside the temples and annual rituals outside and around temples. Terada, Yoshitaka. "Temple Music Traditions in Hindu South India: "Periya Melam" and its Performance Practice." Asian Music 39.2 (2009): 108-51. ProQuest. Web. 24 Sep. 2013.

Dance

The South Indian culture is celebrated in the elaborate dance forms of South India:

erect posture. In this fundamental posture of the Bharatanatyam dance, the distance between the head and the navel becomes equal to that between the earth and the navel. In a similar way the distance between the outstretched right arm to the outstretched left arm becomes equal to the distance between the head and the feet, thus representing the "Natyapurusha", the embodiment of life and creation.[1][2][4]

Architecture and paintings

South Indian Architecture and paintings
  • The ruins at Hampi attest to the richness of Vijayanagara architecture.
    The ruins at Hampi attest to the richness of Vijayanagara architecture.
  • Raja Ravi Varma's paintings combined European techniques with a distinctly South Indian sensibility.
    Raja Ravi Varma's paintings combined European techniques with a distinctly South Indian sensibility.

South India boasts of having two enchanting styles of rock architecture, the pure Dravida style of

Halebidu, Lakkundi, Shravanabelagola, Madurai and the mural paintings of Travancore and Lepakshi temples, also stand as a testament to South Indian culture. The paintings of Raja Ravi Varma are considered classic renditions of many themes of South Indian life and mythology. There are several examples of Kerala Mural paintings in the Mattancherry Palace and the Shiva kshetram at Ettamanoor. South India is home, as of April 2006, to 5 of the 26 World Heritage-listed sites in India.[18]

Sculptures and figurine

Sculptures at Hampi embodying human expression, Karnataka.

divinities from the navel which is always represented unclothed by the sari. A koshta or grid of the sculpture would show the navel to be right at the centre of the sculpture, representing the source of the union of the finite body and the infinite universe
. Sculptures adorn many of the temples around the complexes and also inside them. They are also depiction of dance steps of various stylizations and have served to preserve dance forms and revive it.[3]

Literature and philosophy

Tirukkural
.

South India has one of the oldest literary traditions in the world reaching back over two thousand years. The first known literature of South India are the poetic

women are considered very powerful. A married woman is regarded as auspicious, her shakti or feminine power, protects and empowers her husband and their children. Contemporary Kannada writers have received eight Jnanapith awards which is the highest for any Indian language and Malayalam literature
has been presented with 6 Jnanpith awards, which lies second only to Kannada literature.

Communities and traditions

The main spiritual traditions of South India include both

Kochi
, Kerala.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Beck, Brenda. 1976. "The Symbolic Merger of Body, Space, and Cosmos in Hindu Tamil Nadu." Contributions to Indian Sociology 10(2): 213-43.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bharata (1967). The Natyashastra [Dramaturgy], 2 vols., 2nd. ed. Trans. by Manomohan Ghosh. Calcutta: Manisha Granthalaya.
  3. ^
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Kallarasa Virachita Janavasya Ed: G.G. Manjunathan. Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe, University of Mysore, Mysore 1974
  5. ^ a b c d e f Wadley, Susan, ed. 1980. The Powers of Tamil Women. Syracuse: Syracuse U. Press.
  6. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
    . Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. .
  8. . Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  9. . Peppers, called the king of spices, are the dried berries of a tropical vine native to Kerala, which is India's major producer
  10. .
  11. . Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  12. ^ Faces of Goa: a journey through the history and cultural revolution of Goa and other communities influenced by the Portuguese By Karin Larsen (p. 392)
  13. ^ Foundations of the Portuguese empire, hi lo millo1415–1580 Bailey Wallys Diffie p.234ff [1]
  14. ^ "Thirayattam" (Folklore Text-malayalam, Moorkkanad Peethambaran), State Institute of language,Kerala.
  15. ^ a b Philip, Boney. "Traditional Kerala Architecture".
  16. ^ World Heritage Listed Sites in India. URl accessed on 12 April 2006.
  17. , Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press – (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).
  18. ^ Menachery G (ed) (1982) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, B.N.K. Press, vol. 1;
  19. .
  20. ^ Mundadan, A. Mathias. (1984) History of Christianity in India, vol.1, Bangalore, India: Church History Association of India.
  21. ^ Podipara, Placid J. (1970) "The Thomas Christians". London: Darton, Longman and Tidd, 1970. (is a readable and exhaustive study of the St. Thomas Christians.)
  22. ^ Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)
  23. ^ a b Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.
  24. ^ a b Koder, S. "History of the Jews of Kerala". The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, ed. G. Menachery, 1973.
  25. ^ T.K Velu Pillai, (1940) "The Travancore State Manual"; 4 volumes; Trivandrum)
  26. ^ .
  27. .

References and bibliography