India is a vast country. It boasts of 28 states and 22 recognized languages and these states and languages are associated with many different cultures. South India, comprising the 4 southern states Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, along with the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, forms nearly 20% of our country. Even though southern India is a part of a country which has Hindi as it’s national language, this part is unique when it comes to culture. As a part of showcasing South India, we decided to taste a bit of it.

Starting with clothes : Sari is the favourite dress of women in the entire country and so it is here, but the men have a dhoti or lungi as their traditional clothing. Though it may called differently, a mundu or panchey, in different states, the style of wearing it remains almost the same everywhere. It is draped over clockwise or anticlockwise and can be tied at the back or fixed just along the waist line.

The Languages : Four different states of south India have four powerful languages. Tamil is the language of Tamil Nadu, Kannada for Karnataka, Telugu for people of Andhra Pradesh while Malayalam is the mother tongue for people having their origins in Kerala. Often you may find people knowing more than the language of their states and speaking these languages interchangeably in conversations. Urdu (in its own unique form) is commonly spoken by the Muslims of South India. Then there are languages like Tulu, Coorgi & Konkani which are spoken in certain niches of South India.

From language let’s turn our focus towards something which knows no language – Music : The traditional form of music that grooves here is the Carnatic Music. It’s a form of Indian classical music that was named after Carnatic, the name by which South India was known in the earlier colonial days. Having said that, it does not mean that no other form of music is heard here, with the unorthodox film industry music taking top place in the youngsters’ music collection. As a part of the culture and being traditional to south India, South Indies also hosts Carnatic Music Live Bands at both its outlets.

Dance : The South Indian culture is celebrated in the elaborate dance forms of South India – Koodiyattam, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Theyyam, Oppana, Mohiniaattam and Yakshagana. Out of these, the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and the Kathakali are the most common ones.

Religion and Arts : South India is probably the most religious place in the country, a fact that is testified by the large number of temples in these 4 states. Large number of people coming from various parts of the country throng these temples each year, often donating huge amounts of wealth as well. The temples consist of awesome inspirational sculptures and paintings which stand as a testament to the South Indian culture. South India is home also home to 5 of the 26 World Heritage listed sites in India. Sculptures became one of the finest medium of South Indian expression after the human form of dance.

Literature : The literary tradition for South India began two thousand years ago with the first known literature, the poetic Sangams, written in Tamil. Ever since then, there has been a vast amount of literary classics that have been written in South India. A prominent feat for South India is that Kannada writers have received the highest number of Jnanpith Awards (highest literary award in India), 7, for any particular language.

Cuisine : Ah, how could we miss that! Last time we told you that Venkatesh, during his three year journey learnt close to 3000 South Indian recipes. So that says it all I guess. But just to make a quick comment on the specific things – Rice is the staple diet around here. Coconut is an important ingredient in Kerala and coastal part of Karnataka, whereas the cuisine in Andhra Pradesh is characterized by the delicious pickles, spicy aromatic curries and the generous use of chili powder. As far as drinks is concerned, South Indian coffee is generally quite robust and is the most preferred drink here.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading about South Indian culture but I am sure I’ve left a lot of stones unturned and would love to know more from you people. We’ll surely be delving more into the details in later posts. Share more about South Indian culture with us and fellow readers in the comments section below.