Man in traditional dress smoking hookah, Rajasthan, India.
Women traditionally wear shalwar kameez, ghagra choli, sari and pheran. Dupatta is worn to complete the outfit. Men traditionally wear kurta, achkan, kameez and sherwani for upper garment, lower garment includes dhoti, churidar, and shalwar. Pagri is usually worn around the head to complete the outfit, especially in rural areas. In states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, women usually wear ghaghra and a full sleeved blouse or kurta salwar adorning a coat and an orni (headscarf). The men usually wear kurta and pants or shirt) coat with a Himachali cap. In the states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, the traditional dress is shalwar kameez. In the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and southern Haryana, it is ghagra choli. Pagri is worn in various region styles and is the symbol which shows one's status and the respect in which one is held. In urban centres and as well as rural areas western influence can easily be seen nowadays.
Naan is popular form of flatbread eaten in Northern India.
Wheat, along with rice and millets forms the staple diet of North India. Wheat is usually served in the form of roti or chapatis along with saag, bhaaji, tarkari or saalan (vegetarian curry dishes). Other wheat breads include: deep fried puris and shallow fried parathas. During winters, flatbreads made of millets like bajra and maize are common.[1] Rice dishes called bhaat are generally paired with lentil and bean dishes. Various varieties of rice dishes like jeera bhaat, khaare chawal, matar chawal, meethe chawal, kesariya bhaat form part of North Indian cuisine.
Dal Roti (lentil and flatbread) and dal chawal (lentil and rice) are common vegetarian combos in North Indian cuisine.[2][3] Vegetarian diet is prevalent except in Jammu and Kashmir and the hilly regions, however, the non-vegetarian food is also popular. Mughlai cuisine, especially that of Lucknow and Delhi, is known for non-vegetarian dishes with a distinctive aroma, taste and with a different style of cooking. Vaishnodhabas serving satvik cuisine can be found all over North Indian region.[4]
Milk and its by-products along with leguminous food products like lentils and beans are abundantly used in North Indian cuisine. Some of the popular lentil dishes (dals) from North India include chana dal, moong dal, arhar dal, masur dal, mothh dal and urad dal (which in restaurant is served with butter and is branded by name dal makhani). Other bean dishes include rajma, lobia, kala chana and Kabuli chana. Rajma chawal is particularly popular throughout India.[5] Kala Chana (along with halwa and puri) is cooked during the Ashtami day of Navratri festival. Besan (Indian gram flour) is particularly used to prepare number of North Indian dishes like kadhi, pakodas, missi roti etc.
Hindustani classical music or Shastriya Sangeet is the classical music of North India. Around the 12th-century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what eventually came to be identified as Carnatic music of South India. The central notion in both these systems is that of a melodic mode or raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala. Indian classical music has seven basic notes, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni, with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called tala. The melodic foundations are called ragas. Noted representatives of Shastriya Sangeet with a worldwide acclaim are PanditRavi Shankar and UstadAli Akbar Khan.
Many different folk dance styles of North India include bhangra and giddha from Punjab, kathak in Uttar Pradesh, ghoomar and kalbelia from Rajasthan, nati from Himachal Pradesh, jagars and Pandva Nritya from Uttarakhand. Kud dance of Jammu and Kashmir is the way to thank local deities in the night of rainy season with the beats of drum like instrument narsingha. Kathak is one of the eight Indian classical dance forms as conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as kathaks, or storytellers. Some believe it evolved from god Krishna's raas lilas, forms of which have also evolved into the popular garba-style dances popular in other parts of the region and Gujarat in western India. Raas lilas portrays the love stories of lord Krishna. A dance form which depicts the eternal love. It was quintessential theatre, using instrumental and vocal music along with stylized gestures, to enliven the stories.
Two different schools of art namely the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art evolved in ancient times which represented the developments in sculptures, stucco, and clay as well as in mural paintings. The Kushana emperors, particularly Kanishka, encouraged the Gandhara artists to sculpture themes from Buddha's life and the Jatakas. The distinctive school of art which grew here is called the Gandhara school of art. A large number of the images of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas were produced. Mathura art, however, reached its peak during the Gupta period. The human figure reached its most sublime representation in the Gupta classical phase when divine images, conceived and rendered in human shape, attained a superhuman aspect and manifested great spiritual import. The sculptures were marked by sharp and beautiful features, graceful and slim bodies, with many folds of transparent drapery and a new style of coiffure.
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