Folklore of India - Citizendia

This article is about the folklore of the Indian subcontinent. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. For Native American folklore, see Native American folklore. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States.

The culture of India has been broken down into five main geographical regions. The culture of India has been shaped by the long History of India, its unique geography and the absorption of customs traditions and ideas from some of its neighbors

The folklore of India compasses the folklore of the nation of India and the Indian subcontinent. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

The subcontinent of India contains a wide diversity of ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The Demographics of India are overall remarkably diverse India's population of approximately 1 For information on only the Major religions in India see Major religions in India. Given this diversity, it is difficult to generalize widely about the folklore of India as a unit.

Hinduism, the religion of the majority of the citizens of India, is a heterogeneous faith whose local manifestations are diverse. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Folk religion in Hinduism may explain the rationale behind local religious practices, and contain local myths that explain the existence of local religious customs or the location of temples. Folk religion consists of Beliefs Superstitions and Rituals transmitted from generation to generation in a specific Culture. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites These sorts of local variation have a higher status in Hinduism than comparable customs would have in religions such as Christianity or Islam. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Some have claimed that the very concept of a "folklore of India" represents a colonial imposition that disparages the Hindu religion. See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism However, folklore as currently understood goes beyond religious or supernatural beliefs and practices, and compasses the entire body of social tradition whose chief vehicle of transmission is oral or outside institutional channels.

1 Indian folklorists
2 Folk art of India
- 2.1 Folktales of India
  - 2.1.1 See also
3 Indian folk heroes, villains, and tricksters
4 Traditional games of India
5 See also
6 References

Indian folklorists

The scientific study of Indian folklore was slow to begin: early collectors felt far freer to creatively reinterpret source material, and collected their material with a view to the picturesque rather than the representative. The collection of "ugly people of India" begins with the export of ugly materials collected under the British Raj. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British

Rudyard Kipling was interested in folklore, dealing with English folklore in works such as Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies; his experiences in India led him to also create similar works with Indian themes. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English Author and poet Puck of Pook's Hill is a children's book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906 containing a series of short stories set in different periods of history Kipling spent a great deal of his life in India, and was familiar with the Hindi language. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is His works such as the two Jungle Books contain a great deal of stories that are written after the manner of traditional folktales. The Jungle Book (1894 is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. Indian themes also appear in his Just So Stories, and many of the characters bear recognisable names from Indian languages. See also Just-so story for anthropological sense The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British author Rudyard Kipling During the same period, Helen Bannerman penned the now notorious Indian-themed tale of Little Black Sambo, which represented itself to be an Indian folktale. Helen Bannerman (1862&ndash1946 was the Scottish author of a number of children's books the most famous being Little Black Sambo. The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India,

After independence, disciplines and methods from anthropology began to be used in the creation of more in depth surveys of Indian folklore. The term " Indian independence movement " is diffuse incorporating various national and regional campaigns agitations and efforts of both Nonviolent and Militant Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of

Folklorists of India can be broadly divided in to three phases. Phase I were the British Administrators who collected the local knowledge and folklore to understand the subjects they want to rule. next were the missionaries who wanted to acquire the language of the people to recreate their religious literature for evangelical purpose. Third phase was the post independent period in the country where many universities, institutes and individuals started studying the folklore . the purpose was to search the national identity through legends, myths, and epics. In course of time Academic institutions and universities in the country started opening departments on folklore in their respective regions, more in south India to maintain their cultural identity and also maintain language and culture. After independence, scholars like Devendra satyarthi,Krishnadev Upadhayaya,Jhaberchand Meghani,Prafulla Dutta Goswami, Ashutosh Bhattacharya,Kunja Bihari Dash, Somnath Dhar,Ramgarib choube, jagadish Chandra Trigunayan and many more were the pioneer in wortking on folklore. Of course the trend was more literary than analytical.

It was during  1980s that the central Institute of Indian Languages and  the American Institute of Indian Studies started their systemic study on Folklore  any  after that many western as wel as esatern scholars pursued their studies on folklore as a discipline. 
The pioneer of the folklorists in contemporary india  are   Jawaharlal Handoo,VA Vivek Rai,late  Komal Kothari,raghavan Payanad,

and many more. An emerging trens of new folklorists have emerged who are committed to understand folklore from Indian point of view than to see the whole subjects from the western model. Some of them are better prefer to understand folklore from the folklore provider and consultants whoi are the creator and consumers of folklore.

 Now National Folklore support Center , Chennai since  last  ten years has created a space for the new scholars who are pursuing the study of folklore with  their commitment.

One important breakthrough in the field of folklore is that it is no more confiled to the study in the four wall of academic domain, rather , it has again fould its space with in and among the folkto get their true meaning.

Folk art of India

Art forms in India have been exquisite and explicit. folk forms of art include various schools of art like the mughal school, rajsthani school, etc. Each school has its distinct style of color combinations or figures and its features. Other popular folk art forms include madhubani paintings from bihar and warli paintings from maharashtra. tanjore paintings of south india use real gold work to make paintings.

Folktales of India

India possesses a large body of heroic ballads and epic poetry preserved in oral tradition, both in Sanskrit and the various vernacular languages of India. A ballad is a Poem usually set to Music; thus it often is a story told in a Song. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical One such oral epic, telling the story of Pabujii, has been collected by Dr. John Smith from Rajasthan; it is a long poem in the Rajasthani language, traditionally told by professional story tellers, known as Bhopas, who deliver it in front of a tapestry that depicts the characters of the story, and functions as a portable temple, accompanied by a ravanhattho fiddle. Rājasthān ( Devanāgarī: राजस्थान raːdʒəst̪ʰaːn is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area Rajasthani (राजस्थानी is a language or language cluster Bagri: about five million speakers in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts of Bhopa is a community in Rajasthan state of India. They are considered to be priest singers who depict the story of folk deities traditionally told by professional Tapestry is a form of Textile art. It is woven by hand on a vertical Loom. The title character was a historical figure, a Rajput prince, who has been deified in Rajasthan. Rajput constitute one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups from India [1]

Other noteworthy collections of Indian traditional stories include the Panchatantra, a collection of traditional narratives made by Vishnu Sarma in the second century BC. The Panchatantra (also spelled Pañcatantra, in Sanskrit: पञ्चतन्त्र 'Five Principles' or Kalīleh o Demneh Vishnu Sarma was the author of the anthropomorphic political treatise called Panchatantra. The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. The Hitopadesha of Narayana is a collection of anthropomorphic fabliaux, animal fables, in Sanskrit, compiled in the ninth century. Hitopadesha is a collection of Sanskrit Fables in prose and verse it is similar to though distinct from the Panchatantra. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely Human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings natural and supernatural phenomena material states and objects The fabliau (plural fabliaux or "'fablieaux'" is a comic usually anonymous tale written by Jongleurs in northeast France circa the 13th A fable is a succinct story in prose or verse that features Animals Plants inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are The 9th century is the period from 801 to 900 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era.

Indian folk heroes, villains, and tricksters

Indian folk heroes in Sanskrit epics and history and also in freedom movement are well known to every one. Theyare found place in written literature. But in Indian cultural sub-system,Indian folk heroes are most popular. The castes and tribes of India have maintained their diversities of culture through their language and religion and customs. So in addition to national heroes, regional heroes, and local folk and tribal heroes are alive in the collective memory of the people. Lets take examples of the Santals or the Gonds. The Santals have their culture hero "Beer kherwal" and "Bidu Chandan". Gonds have their folk hero "Chital Singh Chatri". Banjara folk hero is "Lakha Banjara" or "Raja Isalu". But not only heroes, the heroines of Indian folklore have also significant contribution in shaping the culture of India. Banjara epics are heroine-centric. These epics reflect the "sati" cult. Oral epics with heroic actions of heroes and heroines produce a "counter texts" as opposed to the written texts. Therefore the younger brother becomes hero and kill his brother in an oral epic, but it is not possible in classical epics. Folk heroes are some times deified and are worshipped in the village. There is a thin difference of a mythic hero and romantic hero in Indian folklore. In Kalahandi oral epics are available among the ethnic singers performed in ritual context and social context. Dr Mahendra Mishra a folklorist has conducted research on oral epics in kalahandi taking seven ethnic groups.

Traditional games of India

India has a long history of board games. You hear about these from the times of the Mahabharata and the Mughal empire. Some of the popular board games that originated from Indian Traditional games include Chess (Shatranj), Ludo (Pacheesi) and Snakes and Ladders (Moksha-Patamu). Traditional sports of India are Cricket, Football and Soccer. Cricket is the main sport in India. It has been around for a long time and Cricket is rapidly expanding all over the world.

References

Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. Literature regarded as central to the Hindu literary tradition was predominantly composed in Sanskrit, Indeed much of the morphology and linguistic Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" Hindu mythology is the large body of Mythology related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and Vedic mythology refers to the mythological aspects of the Historical Vedic religion and Vedic literature. Proto-Indo-Iranian religion means the religion or the Indo-Iranian peoples prior to the earliest Vedic (Indian and Zoroastrian (Iranian scriptures Within Hinduism a large number of personalities or 'forms' are worshiped as Murtis. This is a List of Hindu deities. Note that according to Hindu mythology there are 340 million (including local and regional deities all of which cannot be listed The following is a list of articles on Hindu subjects Major topics Hinduism What is hindusm in reality Mancala is a family of board games played around the world sometimes called " Sowing " games or "count-and-capture" games which describes the

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