Art Culture

The civilian, literary and cinematic awards through which India recognises outstanding merit in art, letters and public service, from the Bharat Ratna and Padma awards to the Akademi honours and the National Film Awards.

The government and non-government bodies that preserve, promote and propagate India's tangible and intangible heritage — from the Archaeological Survey of India and the three national Akademis to IGNCA, ICCR, INTACH, the National Archives and the National Mission for Manuscripts.

India's religious, secular and harvest festivals, the distinctive celebrations of the North-East, and its great cattle, craft and pilgrimage fairs.

How Indian building and image-making evolved from Harappan town planning through temple, cave, stupa, Indo-Islamic and colonial styles, alongside the great schools of sculpture.

India's eight recognised classical dance forms, the grammar of dance set out in the Natya Shastra, and the rich tradition of regional folk dances.

India's hand-made craft traditions — regional sarees and woven textiles, toys and dolls, stone and marble work, embroidery styles, and the floor designs drawn at doorways during festivals.

The long sweep of Indian writing — Vedic and classical Sanskrit, Sangam Tamil, Buddhist and Jain canons, medieval Bhakti and Sufi verse, and the nationalist modern literatures.

India's musical heritage from its Vedic roots through the grammar of raga, tala and swara to the Hindustani and Carnatic classical schools, their gharanas, and the semi-classical, folk and instrumental traditions.

India's painting traditions from pre-historic rock art through cave murals, the miniature schools and the living folk styles, with their patrons, places and distinguishing features.

India's dramatic tradition from the classical Sanskrit stage rooted in the Natya Shastra, through the rich regional folk theatres, to the modern proscenium and post-independence stage.

India's living traditions — theatre, chanting, dance, ritual, craft, festivals and Yoga — that UNESCO has inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

How India's languages are grouped into families, which ones the Constitution recognises and protects, the classical-language tag, and the ancient scripts they descend from.

India's regional martial traditions — from Kerala's Kalaripayattu and Tamil Nadu's Silambam to Manipur's Thang-Ta, Punjab's Gatka and Maharashtra's Mardani Khel — were once arts of warfare and now survive as sport, ritual and self-defence.

The major faiths practised in India — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism — with their founders, sects, sacred texts and exam-relevant features.

India's classical systems of thought, split into the six orthodox (astika) schools that accept the Vedas and the three heterodox (nastika) schools that reject their authority.

How ancient and medieval India advanced mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry, metallurgy and shipbuilding, from the invention of zero to Wootz steel and the rustless iron pillar of Delhi.

India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites — how sites are chosen, the legal protection that comes with the tag, and the major cultural, natural and mixed sites with their states and listing years.