The World Wide Web (WWW) is a great place to find information on world cultures. This article describes sources of information on the culture of India, including general resources or starting points, art resources, and music resources.
India WWW
Virtual Library
webhead.com/WWWVL/India/
This site is part of an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library. The section on "Links to India Information" contains "Art and Culture" hyperlinks related to music, dance, painting, etc. The "States of India with Web Pages" section links to dozens of sites prepared for the states of India, many of which have sections devoted to art and culture. For example, the West Bengal Web site at westbengal.com/ has a "Handicrafts Directory" with information on tribal handicrafts such as kantha embroideries of the region.
Discover India
www.indiagov.org/
This site, sponsored by India's Ministry of External Affairs, has a "Culture" section with introductory information about Indian arts ("Craft Tradition" being the most thorough), dance, literature (brief biographies of the principal historical writers in each of India's languages), religious festivals, film (a history from the first film made in India in 1913 to the present), and music.
Excite's City Net
www.city.net/countries/india/
You can use this popular Web site to locate information about cities and states in India. Again, some of the sites will have information on the local culture, e.g., Calcutta Online at www.calonline.com/ has a section of pictures of Durga Puja celebrations in Calcutta.
Essence of India
www.cyberindian
.com/india/index.htm
In this substantial site there is an "Arts & Culture" section with links to sites related to Indian fine arts, photography, galleries, dance, classical music, and other resources.
All India
www.allindia.com/default.asp
This site also has an "Arts & Culture" section with overviews of Carnatic, Hindustani, and light classical music.
Contemporary Art Galleries
If you'd like to see the work of contemporary Indian artists, and perhaps purchase a work of art, you can visit several Cyber Galleries, including Mindart Gallery at www.mindware-pcl.com/gallery/gallery.htm, Spear Art Museum at skyserve.com/spear/, or Pugmarks Cyber Art Gallery at www.pugmarks.com/gallery/index.htm.
Puja:
Expressions of Indian Devotion
www.si.edu/organiza/museums/freer/puja/start.htm
This site, corresponding to an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, has few pictures of the exhibited items but includes an interesting "Guide for Educators" which can be used to teach young people about the role of puja, or worship ceremonies, in Indian religion.
Black Peacock
www.goloka.com/index.html
This particularly delightful Web site with a Vaishnava theme presents examples of Pahari art (art of the hill kingdoms of northwest India from the 17th-19th centuries). Sections are devoted to Kangra paintings and Mewari paintings (from Rajasthan) illustrating Jayadeva's Gita Govinda, Chamba paintings illustrating the Ramayana, and Kangra paintings by the 17th century artist Bihari Lal Chaube. Each section contains a very informative text and a series of from 12 to 37 examples of the painting style.
Khazana: Indian
Arts Online
www.khazana.com/
Khazana is a retail store offering brass/bronze art from Nepal and India; Tibetan thanka paintings; musical instruments; and folk paintings in the Madhubani, Warli, and Kohbar styles. Pictures of the art styles are presented along with some explanatory notes and references for further study. Sections on musical instruments and on CDs and tapes describe types of instrument (e.g., sitar, santur) and include audio examples of performances (for java-enhanced browsers) on those instruments and performances of some famous musicians (e.g., Ravi Shankar, M.S. Subbulakshmi). The site also contains a very useful text "A Gentle Introduction to South Indian Classical (Karnatic) Music." With this, we are directed to:
Editor's Note: To download the RealAudio Player, visit the Real Player Download site.
The Ultimate
Page of Pankaj Udhas
www.lakshay.com/malhotra/pankaj/home.html
If you love ghazals, visit this page which is not maintained by the artist himself. It contains information on the singer, lists of songs, lyrics, and audio clips of songs (requires RealAudio plug-in).
Hindi Songs in
Real Audio
members.aol.com/chottemiya/private/samir.html
If you prefer popular Hindi songs, you can listen to dozens of examples at this site. Again as the site's name implies a RealAudio plug-in is required.
Indian Classical
Music: Ultimate Carnatic Music
www.geocities.com/Vienna/7527/main.htm
Don't close your RealAudio plug-in yet: instead, point your browser at this page and listen to full-length performances by India's greatest classical performers, including M.S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. Balamurali Krishna, and Maharajapuram Santhanam.
And, finally not surprisingly many of these sites in art and music have links to many other sites, allowing for hours of cultural delights. Happy browsing!
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