"If an individual is judged by his character and morality, society is judged by its culture and tradition” said Dr S. Radhakrishnan. Culture means the way of
life followed by a community that consists of custom, tradition, religious practices and the human values they cherish. Every culture has its distinct positive features. The culture of a community never remains same. It is evolved over a period and is always in the process of reforming itself. Even from very ancient time, the Indian civilization was highly developed. Many factors have contributed to the cultural formation. Our scriptures like Vedas and Upanishads are considered as immense treasure of knowledge. There are various other scriptures like Ithihas, Purana etc. Bhagawad Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata have taught us how we should conduct ourselves. We have developed very good art like
Music, dance, paintings, sculpture etc. While the temples like Ramanathapuram on the southern corner of
India are noted for their workmanship, novelty and sculpture, temples like Rishikesh and Badrinath in north are considered as the very abodes of God.
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions of the world and great saints like Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda have enriched our religion by their interpretations. From the day Swamy Vivekananda addressed the Parliament of Religions at Chicago; many people have turned towards India for
spiritual knowledge.Though Adi Sankara and other saints have set Self-realisation as the ultimate goal, it was Sri Ramana Maharshi who highlighted its importance and showed the way for achieving that goal. All these developments have contributed to India a rich cultural heritage and tradition. India has thus inherited a great tradition and a way of life which formed the basis of its culture.
