Indian Art
Indian art can be depicted in various forms - as music, poetry, dance, sculptures, painting, architecture - a commmon underlying thread connecting them all is a spiritual connection with God, the prevalent cultural, religious and philosophical history at that time. Music, dance and the musical instruments are categorized as finer arts.
Indian Music
The main categories of Indian Music are - Hindustani and Carnatic. Hindustani music depicts a blending of the Vedic and the Persian cultures. Hindustani music is more prevalent in northern Indian and Carnatic in the south.
Indian Dance
There are two broad streams of dance - Classical dances which are more traditional in their content and Folk dances that are a more informal, joyous expressions that are representative of a geographical region.
- Classical Dance forms are categorized as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam and Odissi.
- Bhangra, Garba, Rasa Lila, Goomar, Dandiya, Yakshagana, Karagam are some of the popular folk dances. More on Indian Folk Dance. .
Indian Musical Instruments
They can be classified into three main groups : string instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments.
- Percussion Instruments produce sound when they are struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped, sending the instrument into a state of vibration. Tabla, Mridangam, Chenda, Ghatam, Dhol are some of the popular percussion instruments.
- String Instruments are either plucked, bowed or hammered. Sitar, Violin, Sarod, Santoor, Sarangi, Dilruba, Esraj, Veena, Tanpura are all stringed instruments.
- Wind Instruments have some type of tubular resonator in which the player blows air into a column and create vibrations. Shehnai, Harmonium, Flute and Nagaswara are the significant wind instruments.
