UPSC Preparation: Introduction to Art and Culture

The artforms and culture of a nation state reflect the aspects of its creative pursuit over the years. The cultural identity of India has contributed a lot to its global image as a soft power owing to the origin of various Indian cultural activities and artforms about 4500 ago. The beauty about Indian Art and Culture lies in the amalgamation of  the distinct cultural identies of all the 29 states.

 

The topic of Art and Culture has secured a lot of importance both in Prelims and Mains Examination of UPSC and it is necessary to familiarise oneself with the contents in order to delve deeper and develop interest. The extensive portion of Art and Culture of India has been presented in a very simple format in the video titled “An Introduction to Art and Culture” below by  Dr. Roman Saini which gives a brief overview of various themes concerning the Art and Culture of India which includes Literature, Architecture, Painting, Dance forms, Classical Music etc.

Indian Literature could be classified into Religious literature and Non – Religious literature. Indian Architecture by itself constitutes six different styles of architecture owing to a number of cultural interactions with other sections of the world throughout history. Indian paintings have always had a story to narrate and there a number of them based on different eras and regions in India. There are eight Indian dance forms recognised by Sangeet Natak Akademi and each dance style is sophisticated in its own way. Indian Music consists of two major classical forms of music: Hindustani Music which originated in Northern India and Carnatic Music which finds its origins in Southern India. Do watch the awesome video below for further details.

The topics which will be covered in the upcoming videos will include a detailed explanation of the following concerning Indian Art and Culture: Architecture, Monuments, Festivals, Dance, Music, Sculpture, Crafts and Philosophy.  

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