Culture Region Languages Of Maharashtra State

Art and architecture:

Art and architecture in Maharashtra shows an ascetic influence. Most of the village temples are worth studying from that point of view. But no palatial buildings, no vast temples or imposing structures can he found throughout the state. Places like Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Paithan, Pandharpur, Dehu, Alandi etc. make Maharashtra a land of historical and spiritual importance. With regard to folk arts, the traditional Tamasha and Powada are still thriving in Maharashtra. The Tamasha is an improvised play, woven round a catchy theme, generally chosen from the problems of the day, the presentation being confined to some select characters who play many roles, without leaving the stage, without any sets or change of costume. Occasionally, there are group competitions; questions and answers in improvised verse, with highly intelligent import or at times with double meanings. The Lavani is the erotic folk song the actor sings, and the meanings conveyed by gestures and facial expressions, has a hold on the rural audiences. The Powada on the other hand is a heroic ballad, generally composed on the spot or chosen from the traditional repertoire, which included compositions on brave deeds in Maratha history. These two types of folk songs, Lavani and Powada, have a peculiarly strong hold on the mind of the masses. In music, vocal and instrumental music play a prominent role in the life of the people. Many maestros from Maharashtra have attained an all-India stature.

Another form of performing arts has been the single character plays; P.L. Deshpande as a great artist, solo and in-group, has set a high record. Suhasini Mulgaonkar presents what may be called a mono-character play, (the roles of many are played by the same character). The imprint of religion on the landscape of Maharashtra is visible in the form of shrines belonging to Vari- ous creeds and castes, which are of great tourist importance. In their present state they also reflect the cultural impact of the various periods in history. The earliest shrines are the Buddhist caves of Ajanta, Karla and others, well-carved into the scarp faces of the lava bands. The famous rock-cut temple of Ellora, and the temple architecture associated with the more well-known shrines like the Aundhya Nagnath, Amravati, Pandharpur, Tuljapur and Kolhapur represent Hindu influence of a later period. Islamic influence is seen in the mosques built at capital-seats like Ahmednagar and Aurangabad. The early Christian influence came from the Konkan side with the churches built by the Portuguese in ports like Mumbai, Bassein and Chaul. British rule favoured church movement mainly at their administrative seats, and missionary efforts primarily in the scarcity and poverty stricken areas like Ahmednagar district.

Culture:

The culture of Maharashtra is not different from Indian culture as such; yet there are distinct aspects, which may be noted. Devotion to local godheads, attachment to the poet-saints and inborn respect for national heroes like Chhatrapati Shivaji and others are striking features of the Maratha mental make-up. Simple living and high thinking seems to have been carried here to an extreme and the grace and decoration of the aristocratic type finds little acceptance in the rough soil of the Marathas.

Languages:

Marathi is the main language of the masses and is also the official language. However, as seen above, the people of the State speak as many languages as there are in the country. Hence, one can get by comfortably with either Hindi or English as the case may be.

People:

The Marathi-speaking population is multi-racial and multi-religious. The Bene-lsraels, the Konkani and other Musalmans, the Zoroastrian Parsis, Christians from the coastal regions and from the interior, Jains from the south and central India, all are Marathi-speaking people of Maharashtra. In recent times, the Punjabis and the Sindhis have been added to Maharashtra in sizable groups, around Mumbai and Pune in particular. In the cities of Maharashtra, Kannada-speaking population is fully assimilated with the rest of the people. Nagpur, Mumbai and Pune, to a lesser extent, have important minorities of Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam-speaking populations. Over a long period in history, a variety of outsiders came and tried to settle in this land, resulting in this colourful variety. However there were groups of original residents of this place such as the Gonds, the Bhils, the Warlis, the Kolis and the Thakurs who are some of the aboriginals. The Nagas too were dominant in some places. While most of the Adivasis have been pushed into less frequented hilly regions, Nagas seem to have completely disappeared. For a tourist, the people provide colourful variety as well as warm hospitality, which is an ingrained trait of all Indians.

Religions:

Hinduism is the main religion of the region. The Poet-saints of Maharashtra have attracted the attention of social historians. They have sprung up from all layers of society and they have had almost the same content in their songs. Although all the saints preached devotion to one God and harped on the equality of creation, their ways of expressing the same thought were different. It is surprising that there were Muslim saints, preaching the same devotional lessons. The advent of Islam has had a strange and varied impact on the people of Maharashtra whose living culture was already a composite one. The assimilation of Islam and later Christianity from Goa has been smooth and natural. The Bohras are an influential Muslim community in Maharashtra. Another powerful community here is that of the Parsis who are, by way of religion, Zoroastrians. Other minority religions like Buddhism and Jainism also thrive comfortably on Maharashtrian soil.