Culture in Gujarat – The Perfect Example for Indian Diversity and Richness

The Indian State, Gujarat is well known for its cultural diversity. The entire state shines with vibrant colors of traditions and rich cultural heritage. Right from Harappa civilization, this place was one among the platform for various religions including Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Hinduism.  The culture in Gujarat is a perfect blend of values, language, traditions, customs, beliefs, arts, institutions, technology and language. The state of Gujarat is enculturated with people sharing common experience leading to the knowledge as well as appreciation of lifestyles and cultural traditions. Gujarat people also share their cultural patterns and traits with people of other regions and spread their values beyond boundaries. The state is correctly recognized as ‘Heart of India’ as one can sense multiculturalism throughout the state. The cultural background that they share with other people makes them feel more comfortable and confident to stand as an example in the global scenario.

 A blend of Cultural Diversity and Rich Heritage – Gujarat, The Flourishing State

The place got special significance in the Indian history as it is the birthplace of Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi. The cultural scenario at Gujarat is marked by its lifestyles, cuisines, music, folk dances, arts, crafts, fairs and festivals. The beliefs and customs of Gurjars are perfectly blended with moral characteristics and values. The culture and tradition of Gujarat is well known by their dressing trend too. Their dress reflects the changes happened in the state since decades. Their dress brightens the entire atmosphere with its attractive glossy shades. Along with their enriched outfit, Gujarati women dress up with fancy and esthetic jewelry and other fashionable accessories.

The Traditional Costumes of Gujarat

Clothing in Gujarat attracts people from all over the world. Gujarati males wear Kediyu and Chorno whereas women wear Choli and Chaniyo. Both of them prefer to wear rich ornaments and jewelry. Their outfits generally contain astragals, bead work; thread work, small patches etc... Gujarati embroiders display amazing creativity and fineness in their work. The enthusiastic Gujaratis dress up their best during festival seasons especially Navratri.  They perform folk dance during this nine days festival with men wearing tight and small long sleeve coat called Keviya. The keviya is embroided beautifully at the shoulders and other borders. Keviya is paired with Churidhar Pajama along with colorful turban. Women prefer to wear ghagra choli or lehenga choli during this season. It includes backless blouses and ankle length colorful skirts. They give final touch to their dress with dupatta or odhni which is heavily designed. They add extraordinary energy to their festival with bright and colorful dress and delicious varieties of sweets.

Atithi Devo Bhava Depicting the True Culture of India

Atithi Devo Bhava is a verse from Sanskrit, which means that guest is equal to god or be the person for whom guest is equal to god. This verse was obtained from an ancient scripture and has become a code of conduct in the Hindu societies. This explains the procedure between the host and his guest. Recently Indian Tourism Department took up this verse as their tag line to promote tourism in India. Taittiriya Upanishad comprises four mantras, namely athithidevo bhava, acharyadevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava and matrudevo bhava. The literal meaning of this mantras is , be the one for whom guest is equivalent to god, be the one for whom teacher is equivalent to god, be the one for whom father is equal to god, be the one for whom mother is equal to god. 

 

Atithi Devo Bhava Making India a Multifaceted Destination

In Sanskrit, Tithi refers to calendrical date. During ancient period, the route of communication was very limited and hence it was difficult for guest to inform their exact date of arrival and therefore atithi literally refers to ‘without fixed calendar time’. By euphonic combination, the term Devah was pronounced and written as Devo, which means God. Bhava refers to ‘Is or be’ – be the person for whom guest is equivalent to god. Indian subcontinent attracts millions of travelers from all over the world every year.  In order to attract more and more tourist, the Indian Tourism Department came up with their campaign carrying this verse with the central theme in the name of ‘Incredible India’. 

Incredible India – Journey of Your Lifetime 

This campaign was aimed to improve the social awareness in order to treat tourist with greater sense of humanity and friendliness. The campaign was targeted towards the public by focusing on stakeholders of tourism industry. Through this campaign, they provide various types of training and also orientation programs to police, immigration officers, tourist guides, taxi drivers and other personnel who are in the position to communicate directly with tourists. The various stages of this campaign are the sensitization process, screening process, process of induction followed by certification and then feedback from key stakeholders in order to develop the desired tourist-friendly ambience over gradual period. The culture of India is well known all over the world for its affection and warmth. This is the actual reason why millions of tourists love to visit India. Indian cuisines attract food lovers from all parts of the world. Indians display great hospitality and affection towards their guests.