India [antikvár]

Introduction Ornamented with loops and circlets of gold, her hair perfumed with jasmine blossoms, and her sari encrusted with fine embroidery, a young woman exemplifies feminine beauty. India-the land of fantasy and dreams, land of color and variety-the very name makes us think of brilliant silks, bearded holy men, fervent pilgrims, snow-capped peaks, and sacred rivers. Imagining India, we envision the Taj Mahal's serene white marble dome glowing in the morning mists, and we see a vivid profusion of Hindu deities adorning an elaborate temple tower Saffron and silver, pearls and ivory, gold and vermilion all suggest the sumptuous pleasures of India. Images of devout believers immersing themselves in dawn-lit waters or kneeling on thin prayer rugs over hard marble remind us of the spirituality that has distinguished the subcontinent for untold centuries. Parched deserts and palm-fringed beaches, verdant Mds and rugged mountain passes, cooling breezes and hot winds all imply the varied nature of India's landscape and climate. Everywhere amid this kaleidoscopic setting, there are curves and circles, inviting and including, alluring and enclosing. Indian art features spirals and curvaceous lines-vines and tendrils, the globe of the sun, benevolent serpents, round-figured goddesses, circular armlets, oval gemstones, arches and domes, circles of dancers, round-haloed deities, curling elephant trunks, crescent moons, and spiraling conch shells. These representations reflect the all-encompassing nature of Indian culture, which has integrated into its own panoply of customs, philosophies, and materials influences from every comer of the earth to form a uniquely rich and splendid civilization. India's social complexity and cultural diversity are legendary. The nation's population is the second largest in the world (only China has more people), an incredible mosaic of more than 860 million inhabitants-one-sixth of the world's human beings. They speak fifteen recognized state languages and hundreds of lesser languages and dialects and live in twenty-five states and seven territories flung across a land the size of continental Western Europe. A multitude of ethnic groups, classes, and physical types abound in this great country, the world's largest democracy. India also has social and economic problems of great magnitude, affecting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. In the streets of the major cities, people of a thousand backgrounds mingle. The serene beauty of the Taj Mahal shines across the centuries, reflected in the morning mists at Agra, an eternal monument to the love of an emperor for his queen.