People and CultureIndia is the world's second most populous nation (after China) Its ethnic composition is complex， but two major strains predominate: the Aryan， in the north， and the Dravidian， in the India is a land of great cultural diversity， as is evidenced by the enormous number of different languages spoken throughout the Although Hindi (spoken in the north) and English (the language of politics and commerce) are used officially， more than 1，500 languages and dialects are The Indian constitution recognizes 15 regional languages (Assamese， Bengali， Gujarati， Hindi， Kannada， Kashmiri， Malayalam， Marathi， Oriya， Punjabi， Sanskrit， Sindhi， Tamil， Telugu， and Urdu) Ten of the major states of India are generally organized along linguistic Although the constitution forbids the practice of “untouchability，” and legislation has been used to reserve quotas for former untouchables (and also for tribal peoples) in the legislatures， in education， and in the public services， the caste system continues to be About 80% of the population is Hindu， and 14% is M Other significant religions include Christians， Sikhs， and B There is no state The holy cities of India attract pilgrims from throughout the East: Varanasi (formerly Benares)， Allahabad， Puri， and Nashik are religious centers for the Hindus; Amritsar is the holy city of the Sikhs; and Satrunjaya Hill near Palitana is sacred to the JWith its long and rich history， India retains many outstanding archaeological landmarks; preeminent of these are the Buddhist remains at Sarnath， Sanchi， and Bodh Gaya; the cave temples at Ajanta， Ellora， and Elephanta; and the temple sites at Madurai， Thanjavur， Abu， Bhubaneswar， Konarak， and M For other aspects of Indian culture， see Hindu music; Indian art and architecture; Indian literature; Mughal art and architecture; Pali canon; Prakrit literature; Sanskrit
There are two basic characteristics of Indian culture， that is， its diversity and Indian culture is essentially a religious Currently， more than 99% of Indian people are religious believers， atheists Indian culture in the complicated， always the dominant Hindu culture， which runs through the history of Indian civilization has always Hindus believe that the human soul forever and animism， and to promote and life cycle of In view of the teaching， life is not that life is beginning to dead end， but an endless series of lives being a part of every life is the period of the previous life and decisions to A person's good behavior make him ascend to heaven， evil is that he can Therefore， individuals must accumulate merit through the practice and understanding the Vatican to return to the Vatican， and Vatican "Van contract" is the core of Hindu philosophy， is the pursuit of the highest Hindu goals of Thanks to this belief in pursuit and， therefore， in the spirit of Hindu philosophy with the fundamental issue of this material showed a tendency to stress the spirit light material， it also determines the vast majority of Indians are the most basic On the other hand， in this religious culture， driven by the formation of the Indian national character， passionate， articulate， good at logic， full of fantasy and the concept of time difference， the characteristics of practical ability is not At the same time the formation of religious and cultural values， but also dominate people's spiritual life and behavior， Western culture and Indian culture of conflict United States， KFC， McDonald's fast food restaurant in India for years， racking their brains， but little In 2000， KFC announced its withdrawal from the Indian market， McDonald's opened in India， only two dozen， it is because the West Indian fast-food culture and do not eat beef and vegetarian culture Thus， an American businessman for many years in India， said: "do not understand Indian culture， do not come to India " In fact， the contempt matter， advocating the spirit of the national character of Indian society today is still greatly Many big names， a great intellectual， while their social status is high， but still despised material， puts the pursuit of the highest spiritual Many ordinary people even more From an economic development perspective， this national character on the one hand contribute to social stability and harmony， not because of over-expansion of matter away desperately desire to compete for resources; the other hand will suppress consumption， leading to market is not prosperous， it is difficult stimulating rapid economic growth
