Culture is a system of building identity

Each living life is attached in culture whether humans or animals. Culture is natural development during birth process {what we call is behavior, that changes from individual to individual broadened when lives in family that family is part of a society (group or community), behavior of the group is culture} and its evolution is based on intelligence reaction to experiences and needs. For example initial stages of humans, behavior were similar to other animals lived in groups. Animals too live in groups (society or community) and their group behavior and practices is their culture. Human intelligence reacted stronger to experiences and needs that widened cultural status.

Culture is process to live in group. Each society has norms to follow by individuals in order to retain society strong and intact.

Culture is a process for identity of living creatures and cultural evolution raises the identity of society, benefit goes to its individuals.

Culture differentiates from group to group (as behavior changes) though major part remains same as human culture to differentiate from other species. This gives different identity.

For society’s culture there is one individual behind who broadens or establishes the cultural status.

Culture developed by beliefs, faith, practices, customs, way to live, art, intelligence, language, food habits, and economy etc; Cultural growth gave identity to the societies that named, Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Jewish or Buddhist etc; have different cultures. So when we come across art, customs etc; we identify what is their culture or which religion they belong. Cultural growth is community growth.

Differences of cultures of two societies when clash leads to war and stronger one overpowers the other to establish own culture that way it broadens its culture. An apparent example we have is western culture spread in most part of the world.

Culture and Heritage

The culture of India had history, all the while absorbing customs, traditions, and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs, and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.

In modern India there is cultural and religious diversity, and the many regions of India have distinct identities. Almost every state has even carved out its own cultural niche. In spite of this unique cultural diversity, the whole country is bound as a civilization due to its common history, thereby preserving the national identity.

India was the birth place of religious systems such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, each of which have had a strong influence not only over India but also over the rest of the world. Following the Islamic invasions and the subsequent foreign domination from the tenth century onwards, the culture of India was heavily influenced by Persian, Arabic and Turkic cultures. In turn, the various religions and the multi-hued traditions of India have influenced South East Asia and other parts of the world.

Languages

As well as regional diversity, languages have created diverse traditions of culture in India. There are a large number of languages in India, 216 of each of which are spoken by a group of 10,000 people or more, although there are others that are spoken in India by fewer than 10,000 people. If these languages are included, there are 415 living languages in India. The two major families of languages are those of the Indo-Aryan languages and those of the Dravidian languages, the former being largely confined to North India and the latter to South India. The Constitution of India has stipulated the usage of Hindi and English to be the two official languages of communication for union government. There is another language family in India which is spoken by about 3% of the people. These languages falls in the language family of Tibeto-Burman languages, which is a subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Besides this, many other languages in India can be divided into 10 other families of languages.

A further twenty-two languages are scheduled for official use, mainly by state governments.

Religion

The Dharmic religions, one of the two main families of world religion (the other being the Abrahamic), originated in India. Every dharmic religion originated in India, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and other schools of language. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and fourth largest religions respectively, with a collective 1.4 billion followers, despite being free of any evangelistic traditions. Unlike the sectarianism that has often marked differences among the Abrahamic schools; the philosophical-like treatment of these religions has generally made the idea of rivalry and conversion alien, leading to extremely close relationships between these faiths.

India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with one of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of the country and most of its people. The religion of more than 80.4% of the people is Hinduism, considered the world's oldest religious and philosophical system.

Islam is practiced by around 13.4% of all Indians. Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are systems that are strong and influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics are also visible influences.

Festivals

Indian Festivals celebrated by varied cultures and through their special rituals add to the colours of Indian Heritage. Some festivals welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings, saints, and gurus (revered teachers), or the advent of the New Year. A number of these festivals are common to most parts of India. However, they may be called by different names in various parts of the country or may be celebrated in a different fashion.

Many festivals celebrate the various harvests; commemorate great historical figures and events, while many express devotion to the deities of different religions.

Every celebration centres on the rituals of prayer, seeking blessings, exchanging goodwill, decorating houses, wearing new cloths, music, and dance and feasting.

In India every region and every religion has something to celebrate. The festivals reflect the vigour and life-style of its people. Vibrant colours, music and festivity make the country come alive throughout the year.

The emphasis laid on the different festivals differs in different parts of the country. For instance, Navaratri is celebrated with maximum fervour in West Bengal as compared to that in other parts of the country. Holi is celebrated with gusto in the north, and although it is also observed in the western and eastern parts of India, in the south it is almost unknown. There are also a few regional festivals like Pongal in Tamil Nadu; Onam in Kerala and the various other temple festivals devoted to the specific patron Gods and Goddesses of the temples, which are celebrated exclusively in those areas, which may be limited to one or a few villages. This galaxy of festivals that exist do contribute in inter-spicing Indian life with gaiety and colour as also in giving the country the distinction of having the maximum number of holidays.