Presented by:

Angelica Grace

Eleazar Fernando Fernandes

India

Is the world’s second most populous nation. (After China) and the seventh largest area, is located in South Asia on the Indian subcontinent. It is about 3,000 km (1,865 mi) wide and has.

Demographics of India

Population 1,236,344,631 (As of July 2014)Growth rate 1.51% (2009 est.) (93rd)Birth rate 20.22 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)Death rate 7.4 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)Life expectancy 68.89 years (2009 est.)• male 67.46 years (2009 est.)• female 72.61 years (2009 est.)Fertility rate 2.44 children born/woman (SRS 2011)Infant mortality rate 44 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

Age structure

• 0–14 years 31.2% (male

190,075,426/female 172,799,553)

(2009 est.)

• 15–64 years 63.6% (male

381,446,079/female 359,802,209)

(2009 est.)

• 65 and over 5.3% (male

29,364,920/female 32,591,030) (2009

est.)

• India and Bharat are both official names. The early settlers called their land “Bharat Varsha” or “Bharat” and during medieval times it was known as “Hindi”. India, which derives from the Indus River.

• The foundations of Indian society, including Hinduism and the caste system, were established from these two groups. Buddhism and Jainism also began in ancient India. The culture was subject to strong Islamic influences beginning in the 11th

century and continuing under the Mogul Empire (established 1526)

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• India can be divided into three main

topographic regions: the Himalayan

mountain system on the north; the

Northern Plain, drained by the

Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra

rivers in north central India; and

Peninsular India in the south

People

India has one of the world’s most diverse populations, with most of the major areas represented. Over thousand of years. The earliest Indians may have migrated from Australia and the South Pacific Islands, directly to the pluralistic nature of modern Indian society. Except in the case of isolated tribal groups, linguistic and cultural practices have become far more important bases of classification that racial criteria.

Languages

More than 200 languages are spoken in India, and linguistic diversity provides an important key to understanding Indian civilization. Four major languages groups are represented. The most important of these are the Indo-Arab branch of the Indo-European group (the major linguistic family of Europe) and the Dravidian language group. Hindi, the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, is the language of 30 percent of the population and the official language of India.

• India is the birthplace of Hinduism,

Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Today, it

is a secular state, and it’s constitution

guarantees religious tolerance to all

groups. Hinduism’s adherents constitute

about 83% of the population. Another 11%

are followers of Islam, and Jains and

Buddhists less than 1%. Aside from Sikh

concentration in the punjab and the Parsis

(Who practice Zoroastrianism) in the

Bombay area, there is no marked regional

distribution of religion groups.

EducationIndia’s literacy rate was more that double between 1950 and

1988. Literacy is higher among men than among women; it is

also much higher in urban areas that in rural ones. Education

is the responsibility of both the central and state government,

with the national government setting major policies and the

states accountable for their implementation. The education

system is free and open to all children through the university

level. It provides for eight years of primary education, two

years of upper secondary. Education is compulsory for

children aged 6 to 14, although not all children are able to

take advantage of this opportunity.

Government

The constitution adopted in 1950 provides for a federal system with a parliamentary form of government. Sovereignty is shared between the central government and the states, but the national government is given far greater powers. The office of president is largely ceremonial, with real authority vested in a prime minister and a council of ministers responsible to Parliament. The President, however, has constitutional authority to impose president’s rule should a state government appear unable to maintain order and to declare a national state of emergency and supersede parliamentary rule.

History

The history of India as a sovereign state under it’s own constitutional government began on August 15, 1947, when the subcontinent was partitioned into two states of India and Pakistan. Pakistan became an Islamic state, while India opted to become a secular state. The decision to partition British India and turn over power to the new nations within a period of six months left bloody turmoil in it’s wake.

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Following independence some 17 million Hindus and Muslim were uprooted and began the long march to their respective new homelands.

There were at least one million casualties in the ensuing sectarian violence despite efforts to restore calm by Mahatma Gandhi, the reverend father of modern India. Gandhi himself was assassinated on January 20, 1948, by a militant Hindu who believed him to be too kind to Muslims.

Literature

• Sanskrit Literature – Oral Tradition produced the Vedic

holy text.

• Mahabharata and Ramayana – two great books, sources

for countless literary.

• 400 B.C. –PANINI produced his Sanskrit grammar

• Second Century AD – Prakrits being used in literature

• Middle Ages Sanskrit – used in religious context by

priesthood

• Ghazal – stylized form of lyrical folk song and notable

exponents of the form

• MACAULAY – established English-langauge schooling ofr

Indians

• Michael MADHUSUDAN DUTT and JAYASHANKAR

PRASAD (1889 – 1937) introduced black verse in sonnet

into Indian poetry

• ARUNACALA KAVI – developed a utilitarian

prose style

• MADHUSUDAN DUTT – wrote the first plays

modeled on Western Drama

• SIR RABINDRANATH TAGORE – introduced

the short story to vernacular writing in India

• LAKSMINATH BEZBARUA and MUHAMMAD

IQBAL – major poets of the period

• History of Indian literature falls into 2 periods;

1. The Vedic Period

2. Sanskrit Period

Religious works• Poetry

• The Rig Veda: a book of sacred hymns

• The Yajur Veda: a book of knowledge and melodies for the hymns

• The Sama Veda: descriptions of the materials for sacrifice

• The Atharva Veda: contains magic spells and other folk knowledge

• The Brahmanas

• The Upanishads

• Maya

• The Sutras

Secular works

• Epics• The Mahabharata

• Bhagavad gita

• Nala and

Damayanti

• The Ramayana

• Dramas

• The toy clay cart

• Sakuntala or the

fatal ring

• The Jatakas

• The Panchatantra

• Romanorum

• The Hitopdesa

• The Sukasaptati

Ganesh

Brahma

Shiva Vishnu

Karma and Reincarnation

• Reincarnation is the belief that the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and being reborn again in a new body.

• Karma, a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life.

• Hinduism says we create karma by our actions on earth. If you live a good life, you create good karma. If you live a bad life, you create bad karma.

Moksha• Each time a Hindu soul is born into a

better life, it has the opportunity to improve itself further, and get closer to ultimate liberation.

• This liberation is called Moksha.

• One attains Moksha when one has "overcome ignorance", and no longer desires anything at all.

• The ones who reach this state no longer struggle with the cycle of life and death.

• The way to get to Moksha is to not create any karma.

Sacred Writings

• The Vedas collections of Sanskrit hymns

(written down 1200-900BCE, but based on

older oral versions).

• The Upanishads which means the inner or

mystic teaching that were passed down

from guru (teacher) to disciple (student).

Mahabharata

• Mahabharata, Sanskrit for Great Story, is one of the great epic poems of ancient India.

• It was written between 300 BC and AD. 300.

• The story is about the battle of one family over a kingdom in northern India.

• The Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) is contained in the Mahabharata. It is dialogue between Krishna and the hero Arjuna on the meaning of life.

Krishna and Arjuna

Ramayana

• Ramayana was written in 3rd century BC, and tells story of Rama, and his wife, Sita.

• Rama and Sita are generally seen as ideal examples of great manly heroism and wifely devotion.

• Reciting the Ramayana is considered a religious act, and scenes from the epic are portrayed throughout India and Southeast Asia.

Rama and Sita

Hindu Life Goals

• Hinduism is about the sort of life one

should lead in order to be born into

a better life next time and ultimately

achieve liberation. There are 4

legitimate goals in life:

• dharma (appropriate living)

• artha (the pursuit of material gain by

lawful means)

• kama (delight of the senses)

• moksha (release from rebirth).

Hindu Duties

• Each Hindu has 4 daily duties:

• Revere the deities

• Respect ancestors

• Respect all beings

• Honor all humankind