On, 15th August 2021, India celebrates its 75th Independence Day.

The 5 Precious Pearls of Our India are:

1.    Landscape

2.    Food

3.    Language

4.    Culture and Traditions

5.    Spirituality

1. Indian Landscape

Go through my blog on Indian Landscapes.

5 Precious Pearls of Our India – Part 1

2. Indian food – A land of spices

In ancient times, the Indian diet mainly consisted of vegetables, legumes, fruits, grains, dairy products, and honey.

Over time, the Śramaṇa movement gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism. This movement embraced vegetarianism.

This led to an increase in creating the “Vegetarian cuisine”.

Diversity in climate, soil and culture has led to the invention of different food items in different states of India.

Hence, Indian cuisine consists of a variety of local and traditional cuisines. 

These cuisines differ largely, as they are prepared using locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.

As India is surrounded by water, consumption of non-vegetarian food, eggs, meat and seafood, mostly fish also are a part of the Indian cuisine.

Consumption of beef in India is an offence because cows are considered sacred in Hinduism.

Past happenings such as conquests, invasions, trade relations, and colonization have played an important role in introducing certain foods to this country.

Today, staple food includes a variety of lentils, whole-wheat flour, rice, and pearl millet (Bajra).

The amazing flavours and aromas of all the Indian dishes come from the incredible spices that our India has to offer.

In ancient India, the spice trade was a profitable business. Spices like cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg were in great demand.

In the olden days, Ayurveda was the way of life.

Sages used these spices to prepare ayurvedic medicines. These medicines are remedies to cure many diseases and illnesses. Some of these Ayurvedic medicines are used now too.

Some spices like turmeric have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. So, is used as a home remedy for ages, for treating colds, cough and other ailments. Turmeric powder mixed with warm milk is a go-to at every home remedy.

India is one of the major producers of cumin seeds. Any food tempering is incomplete without cumin seeds. It has antioxidant properties and is used as an antiseptic.

Coriander seeds are one of the main spices in the south Indian cuisines. The idea of crushing these seeds into powder originated in India.

Cinnamon spices were used by the Britishers to flavour up their cakes and bread. Nowadays, we use cinnamon powder to add flavour to our coffees.

With their rich and unique taste, these Indian spices have made Indian food popular all over the globe.

3. indian Languages

As per Hindu culture and folklore, Sanskrit is the language understood by Hindu Gods and Goddesses. It is a language that descended directly from the Heavens.

Worshipping Gods and Goddesses with mantras using the Sanskrit language is a common practice even in today’s day and age.

That is why the Sanskrit language is also known as the Soul of Indian culture and civilization.

Sanskrit is the oldest and classical Indian Language. All the Indian languages have evolved from the Sanskrit language.

Each state of India has its own unique language and dialect. And with each passing village in India, the dialect changes. So, India has many languages with different dialects.

Of the many languages spoken in India, The constitution of India recognizes 22 regional languages, known as scheduled languages.

List Of The 22 Scheduled Languages Of India

 1.   Assamese

2.    Bengali

3.    Bodo

4.    Dogri

5.    Gujarati

6.    Hindi

7.    Kannada

8.    Kashmiri

9.    Konkani

10.  Maithili

11.  Malayalam

12.  Manipuri

13.  Marathi

14.  Nepali

15.  Odia

16.  Punjabi

17.  Sanskrit

18.  Santali

19.  Sindhi

20.  Tamil

21.  Telugu

22.  Urdu

Official Languages Of India

India doesn’t have any national language.

Hindi and English languages have gained the honour of being the two official languages of India.

So, in the Indian Parliament, communication can only be done in Hindi or in English languages.

You will always find some common words within the hundreds of languages spoken in India. As each language is created with the help of the main language , Sanskrit.

Indian Food and Indian languages also expresses

Unity In Diversity .

5 Precious Pearls of Our India – Part 3

“Culture and Traditions” and “Spirituality”.

…..TO BE CONTINUED….