Question

What are the reasons for diversity in India ?

max 300 words..

No lazy answers

Answer 1

No concept of religion: Till the arrival of organized religions to the sub-continent, people were either subscribing to philosophies of their liking, or quit it or change it at will. Nature worshiping was also part of the options for urban, rural or forest dwellers; even nomads. This way of life, in general, was itself much diverse and numerous thoughts coexisted well.The nomenclature ‘Indie’, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindustan’ etc. itself were coined from outside.If you think the Tamizh-Aryan conspiracy theory was too much, look at this: Shaivaites feels it’s ok to consider themselves a distinct religion. There are hundreds of identities coexisting with each other. Kedarnath head priest gives boost to Lingayat demand - Times of IndiaIndia has probably been the only surviving civilization where theism, atheism and agnosticism could live together without fearArrival of newer ‘religions’ and their sects to the region and their amalgamation were quite naturalThe climatic, linguistic, cultural, ethnic and other diversities have also played a major role in shaping up the people

Answer 2

The large number of different cultures, knitted together in such a close and perfect manner, make India’s diversity one of the wonders of the world.

It is time to put a lid on the infamous communal versus secular debate and celebrate the diversity our beloved country has to offer.

RELIGION

India is also known by the name of land of many religions.

It is the birthplace of four major religions- Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. It also has the second highest population of Muslims in the world, next only to Indonesia. India also has the third largest Shia population in the world and is considered as the cradle of Ahmadiyya Islam. It is one of the very few countries in the world with at least One million Ahmadi Muslims.

Zoroastrianism and Judaism also have an ancient history in India, and each has several thousands of Indian adherents. India has the largest population of people adhering to Zoroastrianism (i.e. Parsis and Iranis) and Bahá’í Faith in the world, even though these religions are not native to India. Many other world religions also have a relationship with Indian spirituality, such as the Baha’i faith which recognises Buddha and Krishna as manifestations of the God Almighty.

According to Census of India-

At the census 2001, out of 1028 million population, little over 827 million (80.5%) have returned themselves as followers of Hindu religion, 138 million (13.4%) as Muslims or the followers of Islam, 24 million (2.3%) as Christians, 19 million (1.9%) as Sikh, 8 million (0.80%) as Buddhists and 4 million (0.4%) are Jain.

DANCES

There are close to 111 various dance forms in the country.

Don’t believe us?

Well, here is the list-

Kuchipudi, Kolattam, Bardo Chham, Bihu dance, Jumur Nach, Bagurumba, Ali Ai Ligang, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Panthi, Raut Nacha, Dashavatara, Dekhni, Dhalo, Dhangar, Fugdi, Ghodemodni, Goff, Jagar, Kunbi, Mando, Muslam Khel, Perni Jagar, Ranamale, Romta Mel, Divlyan Nach(Lamp dance), Veerabhadra, Garba, Padhar, Raas, Tippani Dance, Kinnauri Nati, Namgen, Yakshagana, Bayalata, Dollu Kunitha, Veeragaase dance, Dumhal, Lava, Tertali, Charkula, Jawara, Matki Dance, Phulpati Dance, Grida Dance, Maanch, Gaur Maria Dance, Lavni, Dhangri Gaja, Povadas, Koli, Tamasha, Dindi, Kala, Dangi, Thang Ta, Dhol cholom, Cheraw Dance, Chang Lo or Sua Lua, Ghumura Dance, Ruk Mar Nacha (& Chhau dance), Goti Pua, Nacnī, Odissi, Danda Nacha, Baagh Naach or Tiger Dance, Dalkhai, Dhap, Ghumra, Karma Naach, Keisabadi, Garadi, Bhangra, Giddha, Malwai Giddha, Jhumar, Karthi, Kikkli, Sammi, Dandass, Ludi, Jindua, Ghoomar, Kalbelia, Bhavai, Tera tali, Chirami, Gair, Singhi Chham, Bharatanatyam, Kamandi or Kaman Pandigai, Devarattam, Kummi, Kolattam, Karagattam or Karagam, Mayil Attam or Peacock dance, Paampu attam or Snake Dance, Oyilattam, Puliyattam, Poikal Kudirai Attam, Bommalattam, Theru Koothu, Hojagiri, Gambhira, Kalikapatadi, Nacnī, Alkap, Domni, Ghoomar, Koli, Padayani, Kathak

Apart from these 111 dance forms there are several other unofficial dance forms in various parts of the country.

LANGUAGES

India is one of the most multi-lingual places in the entire world.

According to 2011 census of India, there were close to 1,635 languages being spoken across the length and breadth of the country. Majority of these languages can be identified as dialects.

India has 22 officially recognized languages, in addition to 2,000 different dialects.

According to a People’s Linguistic Survey of India, conducted over a duration of 4 years by 3,000 volunteers and staff of Bhasha Research & Publication Centre has concluded that close to 220 languages have disappeared in the last 50 years.
The big six languages – Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu – are each spoken by more than 50 million people; 122 languages are each spoken by more than 10,000 people.

The survey also clarified the conflict over the exact number of languages in India. It speculates that there are close to 900 living languages in the country.
The high number of Indian languages belong to four of the world’s major language groups, these are- Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman.