Hindutva Series: Hindu History - Life and Lifestyles in Ancient India

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Attack on America and the New War against Terrorism

The modern concept of a welfare state is echoed in the above declaration made in ancient Hindu India. Gautama Buddha integrated this philosophy into the Sangha (monastic order) that he established for the bhikkus (Buddhist ascetics).

What is Hindutva?
The term "Hindutva" is derived from the two terms 'Hindu Tattva", which literally mean "Hindu Principles". Now the question is, what are Hindu Principles and what comprises the "Hindutva" Outlook?

To answer this question we would have to begin with the history of the Hindus. The history of the Hindus is the history of a civilization which has developed in its natural state, without interruption, since antiquity. Its age is dated to be between five and nine thousand years. Hence Hindu History is a prototype of how human civilization would have looked, if civilization all across the globe had been allowed to develop in its natural state. This is the relevance for us to study Hindu Civilization, Hindu History and Hindu Culture.

The evolution of Hindu Civilization can be considered to be natural and continuing as there is no last messiah in the Hindu world view. In fact this is what distinguishes Hindu Civilization from the rest. And this is why Hinduism is called a Living Idea, guided by the sum total of human wisdom that is not considered to be embodied in one person, or one book, or one period of human history. Hence the term "Living". Hindutva is the articulation of this idea of continuity of freedom of thought from which emerge the multifarious Hindu Principles.

Two instances of Hindu Principles that symbolize the outcome of freedom of thought are the pronouncements made not today, but four thousand years back by unnamed rishis (Hindu ascetics) that, "This world is one family" (Vasudaiva Kutumbakam) and that "The Universal Reality is the same, but different people can call it by different names" (Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti). In these two proclamations made in ancient Hindu India, we see the seeds of globalism and freedom of thought, four thousand years before the world was to become the global village of today.

Thus in its true essence, Hindutva is a stridently assertive rational-humanist line of reasoning. And it is this essence of Hindutva that we have kept in mind, while developing this website. At the level of practice, the Hindutva outlook boils down to upholding righteousness (Sat-guna) and fighting ignoble attitudes (Dur-guna). Taking poetic license, we can describe the practitioners of this outlook as "Heenam Naashaayati iti Hinduhu" (Those who uphold righteousness and fight ignobleness are Hindus).

Thus, far from being a narrow nationalistic doctrine, Hindutva is in its true essence, 'a timeless and universal compilation of human wisdom'. Hence it is also called "Sanatana" which means, something that is "forever continuing."

At this site, you will read about different aspects of the history and culture of the Hindus in that part of our globe which is the birthplace of Hindutva. This land is known variously as Bharatvarsha, Hindustan or India. My approach of looking at history is that of a rationalist and humanist. In the context of India, these two values are a result of the freedom of thought which forms the core of the tradition of Hindutva. As my aim is to spread awareness about history and culture, you may freely download this non-profit educational page, print it, link it up from your site, or mirror it at any server.

Incidentally, this site brings you material from eleven books written by the author, over a period of 20 years, since 1980. Each book is presented here as a chapter. The contents of this site are spread over 61 webpages, which translate to about 1500 A4 size printed book pages. The site is richly illustrated with 400+ graphics. Enjoy the infotainment laid out for you at this site.

I also look forward to your valuable suggestions and feedback. Happy viewing.

- Sudheer Birodkar

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Life and Lifestyles in Ancient India

by Sudheer Birodkar

Table of Contents

This site has been selected by Encyclopedia Britannica "as one of the best on the Internet, when reviewed for quality, accuracy of content, presentation and usability".

Answers to Queries from Lin and Don Donn on Life and Lifestyles in Ancient India.

This section originated as questions on this subject. Hence it is presented as such.

Query 1. How did Ancient Indians get dressed. What did they wear?

Answer: Ancient Indians wore (some still wear) an unstiched garment called dhoti. This was a 9 meter long cloth that was draped around the legs and tied at the abdomen. Both sexes wear it the same way. That of ladies is coloured in bright colours. And that of men is either white or in sober colours. For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Ancient Indians wore (some still wear) an unstiched garment called dhoti. This was a 9 meter long cloth that was draped around the legs and tied at the abdomen. Both sexes wear it the same way. That of ladies is coloured in bright colours. And that of men is either white or in sober colours.

Query 2. What sort of Jewellery, cosmetics, clothes did they wear?

Answer: Ancient Indians wore lot of jewellery. It was used both by men and women as crowns, armbands (baju-bandha) {Baju = side, bandh = belt}, Waist belt (Kaya-bandh) Kaya = waist, Bangles for both sexes (choodi), Leg bangles or anklets (Painjan), ear rings (Jhumka), nose rings (nath), rings on fingers (Anguthi) and toes (Jodavi) as well, hair odornments in case there was no crown. For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 3. What did they eat? Breakfast, etc?

Answer: The concept of breakfast did not exist. The meals were both vegetarian and non-vegetarian in earlier days (before the 6th century B.C.E.). After the coming of Buddhism, Jainism and other pacifist religion and reforms in Hinduism, vegetarian food (i.e. strictly excluding animal and fish meat) became the norm for as much as 50% of the population.

However milk and milk products are not considered non-veg. Only where the killing of a living being (animal and fish) is concerned, the non-veg tag is applicable. For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 4. What did they do? Jobs, school ?

Answer: Education was given in a sort of hostel located deep inside forests. These hostels were called Ashramas or Guru-kula.(Guru = teacher)

In ancient India, education was given in a sort of hostel located deep inside forests. These hostels were called Ashramas or Guru-kula.(Guru = teacher)

For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 5. When and what did they worship? What kind of Religious beliefs did they have?

Answer: Hinduism is polytheistic. The dictum is "God is one, people call him by many names". Hence many (innumerable) deities exist. When monotheistic religions came into India, they were welcomed and their deities absorbed into hinduism. Today also many Hindus worship at Mohammedan and Christian shrines and keep images of Christ as a part of the Hindu altar where images of many Hindu deities are kept.

Hindiusm is polytheistic. The dictum is "God is one, people call him by many names". Seen here is the symbol Omkar which is a representation of God. It is considered to have some hoary link with terms like Omnipotent and OMnipresent in the English language as also with the term "Amen" in Christianity and "Amin" in Islam. In Hinduism, Omkar is a representation of God but there are many (innumerable) deities which are recognised and worshipped.
When monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam, came into India, they were welcomed and their deities were recognized by Hindus. Even today many Hindus worship at Muslim and Christian shrines and keep images of Christ as a part of the Hindu altar where images of many Hindu deities are also kept.

For more on this subject refer to the page India - Religions

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The script for the above applet has been written by Chintamani Thakur.

Query 6. Entertainment. What did they do for fun? What kind of Festivals did they celebrate?

Ancient Indians has many games like Chess, polo, cards (which are said to have gone from India to the other parts of our globe). There were martial arts like wrestling, fencing, etc. Hunting was also a favourite pastime of the nobility.

Indians celebrated many festivals all through the year. The most important of them were Diwali, Holi, Dassera, Ramnavami, Janmastami and Ganesh-chaturthi.

Ancient Indians had many games like Chess, polo, cards (which are said to have been transmitted from India to the other parts of our globe). There were martial arts like wrestling, fencing, etc. Hunting was also a favourite pastime of the nobility.

For more on this subject refer to the page India - Sports and Games

Query 7. How were they governed?

They were governed by monarchs (Rajan), although in earlier times (before the 6th centuyr B.C.E.) there were democratic institutions like the Sabha and the Samiti (Assemblage). For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 8. What kind of pets did they have?

The pets were mainly birds like parrots. The royals had peacocks. For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 9. What were the odds and unusual, which caught the interest of ancient Indians?

Their interests were mostly philosphical speculation. All Indian sciences are intertwined with philosophy and theology.

For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 10. What was the Caste System of ancient Indians like?

The caste system was like the division of Roman or Greek society into that of slaves and slave-owners or the society of the middle ages where the division was between serfs and noblemen. The Hindu caste system was the Indian form of division of functions in society.

For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Query 11. What have the ancient Indians contributed to modern global civilization?

Ancient Indians made considerable progress in the sciences. They invented the zero. In astronomy, they are also credited with discovering the heliocentric theory of gravitation nearly three thousand years before Copernicus and Galileo. According to the Heliocentric theory the earth moves around the sun and the sun does not move around the earth. Ancient Indians also are said to have invented the decimal numerals.

In the field of medicine they developed the herbal system of medication called Ayurveda they also developed the system of Yoga that is used in physio-theraphy today.

In the field of production they are credited with the manufacture of crystal sugar and the distillation of sandalwood oil. They also have to their credit the discovery and application of lac and camphor. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the English words for these products are derived from Sanskrit - the language of ancient India.

Ancient Indians also excelled in the fine-arts like Music, Dance, Painting, Dramatics and literature.

For more on this subject refer to the page India - History and Culture

Now we move on to examine the roots of Ahimsa (Non-Violence ) - A Noble Humanist Concept

Sudheer Birodkar

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