User:Nimisha Ayappa/South Indian culture

South Indian culture refers to the culture of the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. South Indian culture though with its visible differences forms an important part of the Indian culture. The South Indian Culture is essentially the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the body and femininity. It is exemplified through its dance, clothing, and sculptures. Tamil in Tamil Nadu, Telugu in Andra Pradesh and Telangana, Kannada in Karnataka and Malayalam in Kerala are the native languages spoken in each of these South Indian states. These languages are collectively known as Dravidian languages.

Traditional clothing
South Indian women traditionally wear the sari while the men wear a type of sarong, which could be either a white dhoti or a colourful lungi with typical batik patterns.The saree, being an unstitched drape, enhances the shape of the wearer while only partially covering the midriff.In Indian philosophy, the navel of the Supreme Being is considered as the source of life and creativity. This makes the realization of sharira-mandala, where in Angikam bhuvanam yasya (the body is your world) unites with the shaarira-mandala (the whole universe), as expressed in the Natyashastra. . These principles of the sari, also hold for other forms of drapes, like the lungi or mundu or panchey (a white lungi with colourful silk borders in kannada), worn by men. The lungi is draped over clockwise or counterclockwise and is tied at the back or fixed just along the waistline. It's sometimes lifted to the knee and tied at the waist leisurely or just held in hand to speed up walking.

Traditionally, South Indian men do not cover their upper body. Sometimes, in a formal situation, a piece of cloth may cover the upper body. Certain temples in South India even ban men from wearing upper-body garments when inside the temple. In Andhra Pradesh and parts of north Karnataka, men wear kachche panchey where it is tied at back by taking it between legs. A similar pattern is seen in women. All over the peninsular coastal region, men wear coloured lungis and women wear saris in a manner of tying them at the back.

The traditional clothing is very eccentric in the Kodagu district of Karnataka.The women from Kodagu drape their saree differently, here the pleats are tucked to the back and the 'pallu' is worn over the shoulder. They also wear a piece of clothing on their head called the 'vastra'. The traditional men's Kodava costume is a collarless half-sleeve knee length jacket called the 'Kupya' worn with a white shirt.A golden embroidered maroon sash called 'Chale' is worn around the waist,further complimented by a silver dagger called the 'Peechekatti' which is tucked into the sash..

The Araimudi (araimuti) is a small silver metal plate, shaped like a heart or a fig leaf, formerly worn by young Tamil girls on their genitals. "Arai" means loin and "mudi" means cover. The araimudi is also known as the "Genital shield" and an araimudi was mentioned in the "Guide to the principal exhibits in the Government Museum, Pudukkottai", by M. S. Chandrasekhar, published in 1966 as being displayed in an exhibit in the Madras Government Museum. "A Manual of the Salem district in the presidency of Madras, Volume 1" said "The children sometimes, to the age of ten years or more, go in a state of nudity, relieved perhaps by a piece of string round the waist which sustains the "araimudi" or heart-shaped piece of silver, which calls attention to what it purports to conceal." The "Madras district gazetteers, Volume 1, Part 1" said 'Little girls, up to the age of about 3, wear nothing but the little heart-shaped piece of silver suspended by a waist-cord (arai- mudi) " which calls attention to what it purports to conceal."' "Percival's Tamil-English dictionary", edited by P. Percival defined Araimudi as "அரைமுடி arai múḍi, A small plate of gold or silver, appended to the girdle of female children, for the sake of decency". Miron Winslow's dictionary, "A comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary of High and Low Tamil" defined araimudi as "அரைமுடி, s. A small plate of metal worn by little girls over the private parts." The Abbe Dubois book "Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies", translated from French and edited by Henry King Beauchamp stated that "Even the private parts of the children have their own particular decorations. Little girls wear a gold or silver shield or codpiece on which is graven some indecent picture; while a boy's ornament, also of gold or silver, is an exact copy of that member which it is meant to decorate." "Description of the character, manners, and customs of the people of India; and their institutions, religious and civil", also written by Dubois said "The children of either sex are likewise ornamented with various trinkets of the same form, though smaller than those of grown persons. They have also some that are peculiar. As all children in India go perfectly naked till they are six or seven years old, the parents, of course, adapt the ornaments to the natural parts of the body. Thus, the girls have a plate of metal suspended so as to conceal, in some measure, their nakedness. The boys, on the other hand, have little bells hung round them, or some similar device of silver or gold, attached to the little belt with which they are girt. Amongst the rest, a particular trinket appears in front, bearing a resemblance to the sexual part of the lad." Until the 1960s in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka girls wore the Araimudi.

Cuisine


Food habits are diverse even regionally and are largely based on the traditions. Rice is the staple diet. Coconut is an important ingredient in Kerala and coastal part of Karnataka of South India, Hyderabadi biryani is also very special in Telangana and other neighbouring states whereas the cuisine in Andhra Pradesh is characterized by the pickles, spicy aromatic curries and the generous use of chili powder. Dosa, Idli, Uttapam etc. are popular throughout the region. Coastal areas like the state of Kerala and the city of Mangalore are known for their seafood. South Indian coffee is generally quite robust, and coffee is a preferred drink throughout the Malabar region. Tamil Nadu is well known for its Idli, Dosa, Pongal, Sambhar, Vada, Puri, which are the common breakfast in Tamil families. Among the Malayalees, Appam, Puttu, Upamav, Malabar biriyani are some of the common dishes. In Karnataka, Bisibele bath, Kara bath, Kesari bath, Raggi mudda, Udin Vada, Bene Masala Dosa, Paper Dosa are some of the common dishes.Karnataka's Kodagu district is renowned for its distinctive pork curry called pandi curry. Other Kodava dishes include baimbale curry, which is a bamboo shoot curry, kadambuttu and nuputtu, which are essentially rice balls and rice noodles.

Dance
The South Indian culture is celebrated in the elaborate dance forms of South India: Koodiyattam, Bharatanatyam, Oyilattam, Karakattam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Thirayattam, Theyyam, Bhuta Kola, Ottamthullal, Oppana, Kerala Natanam, Mohiniaattam and Yakshagana. Thirayattam is a Ritualistic Performing art of South Malabar region in Kerala state. The Bharatanatyam is the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the body. This is done through its tenets of having a perfectly erect posture, a straight and pout curving stomach, a well rounded and proportionate body mass to the body structure, very long hair and curvaceous hips. These tenets bring to life the philosophy of Natyashastra, 'Angikam bhuvanam yasya' (The body is your world). This is elaborated in the araimandi posture, wherein the performer assumes a half sitting position with the knees turned sideways, with a very erect posture. In this fundamental posture of the Bharatanatyam dance, the distance between the head and the navel becomes equal to that between the earth and the navel. In a similar way the distance between the outstretched right arm to the outstretched left arm becomes equal to the distance between the head and the feet, thus representing the "Natyapurusha", the embodiment of life and creation. .There are also a variety of folk dances in each state in southern India. The most common folk dances in Karnataka include Doolu kunitha, performed mostly by the Kuruba community belonging to northern Karnataka, Suggi kunitha which is a harvest dance performed by the farming community, Bolak-aat and Ummat-att are folk dances performed by people from the Kodagu region.The other folk dances from Karnataka include Kamsale,Veeragase and Nagamandala. .Some of the folk dances from Tamil Nadu include Kummi, Devarattam, Khadgam, PoikkalKutthirai Attam to name a few. .Burra katha, Andra natyam, Veeranatyam are few of the folk dance forms from Andra Pradesh.

Festivals
Festivals in India are extremely colorful and vivid. Festivals are a big part of every culture,and there are many such festivals that reflect the culture of South India.Ugadi is a festival in Karnataka that symbolizes the new year for the people from this state.Dasara is another festival which is celebrated quite extravagantly in the region of Mysore. .Few of the festivals celebrated in Tamil Nadu inclue Pongal which is a harvest festival,Thaipusam which is a festival that marks the birth of Karthikeya(Lord Shiva's younger son)and Natyanjali is a dance festival celebrated as a dedication to Lord Nataraja.Onam is the most popular festival from Kerala.Thrissur Pooram festival showcases Kerala's rich heritage and culture.Bathukamma Festival and Bonalu are some of the main festivals celebrated in Telangana.Bhogi is a festival in Andra Pradesh where people discard old things and concentrate on new things.Shankaranti is also an important festival celebrated by the people of Andra Pradesh..