Introduction: The very moment, you talk about the Indian culture, the phenomenon of Indian art, architecture,

the diverse cultures across regions and the linguistic heritage of india come to our mind. But Indian culture was definitely much more than that. Very sure that India did have rich architectural heritage and culture but they also excelled in science and technology, they are among the very few cultures that showed the world the science of mind control. Vedas are among the oldest available text of hinduism, is sea of wisdom. Gita is the first successful attempt by man to work out a complete philosophy of life. India is universally accepted to be richest country on the planet before British invasion. India is the land of Ayurveda, the oldest school of medicine. India is the birthplace of Algebra, trigonometry and calculus. We were so civilized to perform even complex surgeries like cataract and artificial limbs when the west was still nomadic. The Unique speciality of Indian culture is that it is a continuing culture and most of the practices are still in practice, may be in a evolutioned form. So rich is the history and culture of india and in this essay, we will see the important chapters in the mind and the material culture of india. History of India: The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Human beings as long as 75,000 years ago. It is very interesting to find that Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate the existence of a race even before human beings. The earliest proven settlement in India starts with Bronze age, around 3300 BC with Indus valley civilization. It was centralized around Indus river. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The Mature Indus civilization flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent. The civilization included urban centers such as Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, and Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan. The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses. Friedrich Maxmuller, a famous German Indologist of England, a professor at Oxford, came up with the hypothesis of Dravidians and Aryans. He suggested that Dravidians were the race of India and Aryans were actually a nomadic race of people who came from central Asia and settled in Indus valley civilization. But contradictorily, the no traces of battles fought are found in the region there is another hypothesis that the Dravidians and Aryans are the same people. Maxmuller could revise his ideas, the former idea had penetrated so deep and it was so difficult to shake them in the last 100 years. Some of the terracotta pictures and and also the metal figurines have been located which tell us about a particular system of art existent in those days. These figurines symbols a kind of culture that existed in those days. The pictorial evidence shows that these people were not nomadic and were very highly cultured. The description of jewellery in Ramayana and Mahabharata resemble the jewellery of those days. An interesting picture

shows a person sitting in an almost Yoga posture of Padmasana with two horns in head. He is identified as Pasupti Pasatam Pathihi. in other words, it is most ancient description of lord Shiva. So Shiva was a vedic deity. Coming to modern times, towards the end of 2001, there was a report in India Today. An organization in Madras known as National institute of Ocean technology, setup by the government of India with assistance of IIT Chennai, specializes in ocean explorations for the purpose of locating metallic modules. There was a report from gulf of Cambay, south of Gujrat, that the water there is getting polluted because of industrial influenze. NIOT sent a research ship to find out the methods to eliminate pollution. Many underwater pictures were taken. Ruins of ancient civilization was found in these pictures. Some scholars believe that it is the sunken city of Dwaraka. Wooden piece dating back to 7500 BC has been found and some scholars now claim that the saraswati civilization was the cradle of world civilization. Every civilization has its end and so did Sarasvati valley civilization. By around 2000 BC, there was a climatic change. The rains failed and people started moving towards Ganga and Jamuna plains, and the place of SVC became the famous Rajastan desert. In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned in Vedic, early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and "republics" known as the Mahajanapadas Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja stretched across the Indo-Gangetic Plain from modern-day Afghanistan to Bengal and Maharastra. This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilization. It was then followed by Mayuryan empire. The Maurya Empire (322185 BCE), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India. The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha what is now Bihar.[46] The empire flourished under the reign of Ashoka the Great.[47] At its greatest extent, it stretched to the north to the natural boundaries of the Himalayas and to the east into what is now Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, annexing Balochistan and much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Herat and Kandahar provinces. The empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded extensive unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga which were subsequently taken by Ashoka. Like every state, the Maurya Empire needed to have a unified administrative apparatus The Classical Age refers to the period when much of the Indian subcontinent was reunited under the Gupta Empire (c. 320550 CE).[61][62] This period has been called the Golden Age of India[63] and was marked by extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.[64] The decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was invented in

India during this period.[65] The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors in India.[66]. From around 7th century AD, the south was ruled by Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas. Rajaraja Chola I conquered all of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola I's navies went even further, occupying coasts from Burma (now Myanmar) to Vietnam,[75] the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep (Laccadive) islands, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the Pegu islands. Later during the middle period, the Pandyan Empire emerged in Tamil Nadu, as well as the Chera Kingdom in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. By 1343, last of these dynasties had ceased to exist, giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire. Then the whole of India was ruled by Islamic invaders and vijayanayakars. Vedic culture and Yoga: Life of vedic Aryans was pastoral. Cow was considered as the basic currency unit. The larger the number of cows, a person had, richer he was. The society was divided into four varnas. Human beings are a combination of three qualities. Sattva, Rajas and Thamas. Where eve there is a pre dominance of Sattva, peoples mind go towards spirituality, they become scholars, thinkers and sages. Such people were considered as Bhramana. when the Rajas guna is dominant, those people are hyper active and are very useful in the time of war fare, because they are not afraid of losing their lives. People with Sattva in them, predominantly Rajas, become Kshatriyas. People with Raja guna and a bit of tamas, became Vaisyas. Then there was a fourth varna, with the people who are not intelligent enough, but happy doing the job given to them. Yoga was a integral part of ancient India. Many vedic scholars are of opinion that the Yoga is in practice for atleast 5000 years. It is only in the beginning of Christian era, that a person called Patanjali, a great sage wrote a whole lot in the form of Sutras. This does not mean that Patanjali was the inventor of Yoga. Yoga (Sanskrit, Pli: yga) is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India.[1][2] The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul.[3] The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.[4][5][6] Patanjali's yoga is known as Raja yoga, which is a system for control of the mind. [42] Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra, which is the definitional sutra for his entire work:
: -

This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodha) of the modifications (vtti) of the mind (citta)".[43] The use of the word nirodha in the opening definition of yoga is an example of the important role that Buddhist technical terminology and concepts play in the Yoga Sutra; this role suggests that Patanjali was aware of Buddhist ideas and wove them into his system.[44] Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)."[45]

Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept derived from the 29th Sutra of the 2nd book, and is a core characteristic of practically every Raja yoga variation taught today. The Eight Limbs are: Yama (The five "abstentions"): non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, nonsensuality, and non-possessiveness. Niyama (The five "observances"): purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to god. Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation. Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prna, breath, "yma", to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force. Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects. Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object. Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation. Samdhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation. In the view of this school, the highest attainment does not reveal the experienced diversity of the world to be illusion. The everyday world is real. Furthermore, the highest attainment is the event of one of many individual selves discovering itself; there is no single universal self shared by all persons.[46] Mind culture of Ancient Indians: The ancient Indians believed in living with nature. Ancient Indians knew that that every individual is a part of a creation and had a role to play. That is why in ancient india, everything is worshipped. For a farmer, snake is a friend, who would protect his crops from rats and other rodents. They knew how to live with the nature. India had a rich literary heritage. The earliest works of Indian literature were oraly transmitted. Sanskrit literature begins with the Rig Veda a collection of sacred hymns dating to the period 15001200 BCE. The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata appeared towards the end of the first millennium BCE. Classical Sanskrit literature flourished in the first few centuries of the first millennium CE[citation needed], as did the Tamil[citation needed] Sangam literature[citation needed], and the Pli Canon The picture of Indo Aryans is clearly decpicted in the Rig veda as a race of sturdy people bubblimg with youthfulness, vivacity, energy and zest. They loved life, poetry and philosophy. They were frankly worldly and were not apologistic about it. In this they bear close kinship to their contemporaries They were not content with their bodies. Towards the end of vedic period, they Indian history entered the most creative part through Upanishads. In Upanishads, we see the mental life of man reaching the summit. They were boggled by a sprit of enquiry. Beliefs of Indo Aryans: The indo-aryans believed that the theory of universe was a product of evolutionary process and not the creation of an extra-cosmic deity.

Their concept of evolution was more comprehensive than modern science. It included not only physical and the biological aspects but also the mental and spiritual aspects of the universe. There is no place for super natural in Indian thought. The modern theories of conservation of Energy and unity of matter where integral part of Indian philosophical thought. The vastness of time and space as well as relativity of both is another point of contact between ancient Indian thought and modern thought.

Vedas and Upanishads: The class of "Vedic texts" is aggregated around the four canonical Sahits or Vedas proper (turya), of which the first three (traya) are related to the performance of yajna (sacrifice) in historical Vedic religion: In Ancient culture, there are two types of knowledge. Para and Apara. Para is divine knowledge. It is the process by which you know the reality or the essential dimensions for realizing the ultimate reality. It goes beyond intellect, emotions, mind and body. Apara consists of all four Vedas and supporting texts. igveda Main article: Rigveda The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.[36] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).[37] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.[38] The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries, commonly dated to the period of roughly the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the Indian subcontinent.[39] There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities between the Rigveda and the early Iranian Avesta, deriving from the Proto-Indo-Iranian times, often associated with the Andronovo culture; the earliest horse-drawn chariots were found at Andronovo sites in the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area near the Ural Mountains and date to ca. 2000 BCE.[40] Yajurveda Main article: Yajurveda The Yajurveda Samhita consists of archaic prose mantras and also in part of verses borrowed and adapted from the Rigveda. Its purpose was practical, in that each mantra must accompany an action in sacrifice but, unlike the Samaveda, it was compiled to apply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Somayajna. There are two major groups of recensions of this Veda, known as the "Black" (Krishna) and "White" (Shukla) Yajurveda (Krishna and Shukla Yajurveda respectively). While White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the e Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recensions survive (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya). Samaveda

Main article: Samaveda The Samaveda Samhita (from sman, the term for a melody applied to metrical hymn or song of praise[41]) consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 78 stanzas) from the Rigveda.[25] Like the Rigvedic stanzas in the Yajurveda, the Samans have been changed and adapted for use in singing. Some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated more than once. Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.[42] Two major recensions remain today, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, as the repertoire of the udgt or "singer" priests who took part in the sacrifice. Atharvaveda Main article: Atharvaveda The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.[43] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.[43] It was compiled around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,[44] and some parts of the Atharva-Veda are older than the Rig-Veda[43] though not in linguistic form. Upanishads: The term Upanishad means sitting down under. This implies students sitting down near their guru to learn the big secret. In the splendid isolation of forest abodes, the philosopher who composed the Upanishads contemplated on various mysteries of life and its creation. The composition of Upanishads marks a significant stride forward in the direction of knowledge of mystery of earths creation, whether common or metaphysical. Through episodes, commentaries and stories, Upanishads unfold the fascinating role of creation, life, essence of life and of that beyond the seeker of truth. In Upanishad the view of Brahman and Atman were proposed. Puranas: Mahabharata and Ramayana are the great Indian epics, written in magnificient Indian poetry, the first by Valmiki and the second by Vyasa. The Ramayana excels in the depiction of superb heroes divine majesty and the power of Rama, indomitable strength of Lakshmana and the energy of Hanuman. Lyrical mellifluousness and a subtle inwardly moving force are the characteristics of poetry of Valmiki. Mahabharata, on the other hand, is a virile tumult of waves of stupendous thoughts that drown the reader and at once lift him to the surface to dash him on his own body, which it does at the same time, effectively portray the frailities of human nature and irresistible power of God, continuously operating. The art of teaching in Puranas is supremely phychological and just fitted to appeal to the emotions and reasoning at the same time, together with a power to simulate the longings of the deepest soul, the self of everyone. Conclusion: