The textbook "Indian Customs and Traditions" by author Do Thu Ha (Associate Professor, PhD, Faculty of Oriental Studies) was published by Hanoi National University Publishing House in 2012.
India is a country with a 5000-year history and a brilliant civilization that shines not only for the East but for all of humanity. A crucial element contributing to the country's unique yet diverse character is its culture. However, thoroughly understanding one of the oldest cultures in the world, India, is no easy task; it requires considerable effort and intellectual dedication to research. This section only presents one aspect of this vast culture: the customs and traditions in the daily lives of the Indian people.
Customs are things that become customary laws, deeply rooted in the people, possessing a stronger power than even statutory laws. In the cultural traditions of various ethnic groups, there are many fine customs and practices essential for morality and social order. A revolution can quickly change the political system, followed by a series of changes to the legal system. Customs also constantly change according to the trends of socio-cultural change, but they are more persistent and follow their own rules; they are not easily followed by everyone, every household, and every social class overnight. Good customs are imitated by many, while bad customs are gradually abandoned by many as well.(1).
Customs themselves are part of that social struggle, ongoing and continuing, between the old and the new. Aesthetic concepts are also constantly changing.(2)For example, the topknot hairstyle worn by men in Vietnam was clearly outdated, yet it took a long struggle to disappear. However, the black teeth of women, once praised as beautiful and charming in Vietnam, naturally vanished a few years after the August Revolution without any coercion, giving way to white teeth.
The movement to build a new cultural lifestyle in Vietnam and other Eastern countries today is not simply based on subjective ideas, but must involve applying traditional customs and values to lifestyles, ways of thinking, actions, and interpersonal relationships, in line with the evolutionary trend. Some ancient customs, originating from practical experiences in the past, are no longer relevant and have become outdated and harmful. We need to study their origins to understand their causes, and then adapt them appropriately for the present and future, or find good customs to supplement and gradually eliminate the bad ones. Of course, each individual must live, interact, and integrate with the community; artificial styles that contradict customs, national identity, and the views of the majority will naturally be eliminated and gradually discarded. Extending this to customs, the same applies: restoring and promoting traditional customs and values will certainly be supported and welcomed by all levels of society. Restoring or reviving decadent customs and traditions would be condemned by society. Before delving into specific issues concerning the customs and traditions of the Indian people in their daily lives, we will examine some basic, instrumental concepts.
Purpose and significance of the subject
The Department of Indian Studies within the Faculty of Oriental Studies is newly established, therefore, its teaching and research materials are very limited. Even domestic books and articles in Vietnamese on Indian studies are scarce and unsystematic. This poses a significant challenge for both faculty and students in our department. To help address these difficulties and provide students with initial resources, we are attempting to compile textbooks for the Department of Indian Studies in general and for the course on Indian Culture in particular.
In our Indian Studies department, we teach several specialized courses, with Indian Customs and Traditions accounting for three credits. We plan to outline the main features of Indian customs and traditions in funerals, weddings, house building, childbirth, pilgrimages, ancestor worship, etc., in the order of the life cycle. To make the lectures easier for students to understand, we will provide a general overview of some characteristics of Indian culture before delving into the details.
We have chosen this approach because other subjects within the Department already teach parallel courses on various aspects of Indian Studies such as Indian Religion, Indian History, Indian Literature, Indian Ethnic Groups and Languages, Indian Political Institutions and International Relations, and the Historical and Cultural Development of India. We do not wish to repeat information already presented in depth and breadth on each topic, so we will focus only on customs, traditional rituals, and cultural transformations occurring in the daily lives of Indian people during the period of modernization and globalization.
When delving into the introduction to Indian customs and rituals, we will focus on the customs and rituals of Hindus, as they constitute nearly 82% of India's population (according to BBC figures from 2004). However, to clarify the characteristics of Indian customs through specific examples, we will also compare the issues raised in relation to other ethnic groups in India, which are numerous, diverse, and complex, so that students can gain a more comprehensive understanding.
Another aspect that we have paid close attention to is that in India, customs and traditions are very closely intertwined with religion. Indian customs and traditions are so closely blended with religious rituals and ceremonies that we are compelled to present issues and phenomena in Indian customs and traditions within a religious context. Certainly, the customs of Hindus or Muslims cannot be separated from the ideas, rituals, and ceremonies of these religions. Religious rituals and ceremonies have become an inseparable part of Indian customs and traditions. Therefore, we are compelled to present Indian customs and traditions along with their rituals and ceremonies.
Research methods
In this course, we will attempt to explain cultural phenomena from the perspective of "the whole of history, the whole of culture," as proposed by the Indian researcher Bhagwat Saran Upadhyaya. This means that each cultural characteristic or phenomenon will be traced back to the origins of Indian religion, history, ethnicity, and thought. We will strive to apply interdisciplinary, comparative, and enumerative research methods to clarify our arguments.
History of the problem
To date, there are not many books and publications in Vietnam about Indian culture in general, and Indian customs and traditions in particular. Looking at the available works, we can see the following:
In 1986, researcher Nguyen Thua Hi wrote two books, "Understanding Indian Culture" (published by the Culture Publishing House) and "Understanding Indian Culture" (Education Publishing House, Hanoi), which addressed many aspects of Indian culture with very interesting and insightful observations, targeting a wide audience and those interested in Indian culture in general. However, neither of these books mentioned the customs and traditions of the various ethnic groups in India, focusing only on aspects such as literature, history, and religion.
In 1993, the talented researcher Cao Huy Dinh, after completing his studies in India, published a series of works and articles about India, including the book "Indian Culture" (Culture Publishing House, Hanoi, 1993). Associate Professor Dr. Dinh Trung Kien also provided a general introduction to India in his book "India, Yesterday and Today" (National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1995). The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies also published "India Past and Present" by the Social Sciences Publishing House in 1997, with 350 pages. Notably, Professor Nguyen Tan Dac published a monograph on Indian Culture in 2000 – 342 pages – containing a wealth of valuable information.
From a different perspective, comparing and contrasting Indian culture with other cultures, researcher Cao Xuan Huy wrote the book "Eastern Thought: Points of Reference" (Literature Publishing House, 1995), and the research group of Professor Luong Duy Thu published the book "General Overview of Eastern Culture" (Education Publishing House, 1997).
Of particular note is the lengthy work by researcher Nguyen Duc Dan on "Philosophical Thought and Cultural and Literary Life of India," published by Literature Publishing House, Hanoi, 1996. This is a relatively elaborate work, delving into detailed aspects of Indian culture such as philosophy, religion, society, and literature.
Works by researchers worldwide on Indian culture have also been selected for translation in Vietnam, such as W. Durant's *History of Indian Civilization*, translated by Nguyen Hien Le and published by the Information Center of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education in 1992 (republished by the Culture and Information Publishing House in the first quarter of 2004); J. Nehru's *Discover India*, translated by Pham Thuy Ba, Le Ngoc, Hoang Tuy, and Nguyen Tam in 1990 and published by the Literature Publishing House, Hanoi; and P. Pruton's *Mysterious India* (Literature Publishing House, Hanoi, 1993)...
In addition, there are several in-depth articles on various aspects of Indian culture, such as *Ancient Indian Art* (Fine Arts Magazine, issue 1, 1989)...
However, we compiled this textbook solely to introduce Indian customs and traditions as a monograph, rather than delving broadly and comprehensively into all aspects like other authors. In this regard, we found that a section of about 15 pages in Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Trung Kien's book, "India, Yesterday and Today," seems closest to our perspective.
While teaching this course, we will utilize several other materials we have compiled, including the section on the Symbolic System of Ancient India in the 2001 university-level scientific research project on the Symbolic System in the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, the introduction to Indian culture in the work "The Influence of Indian Culture on the Region - Lectures for Graduate Students at the Faculty of Oriental Studies in 2001," and the 2010 textbook on the Historical Process of Indian Culture, to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of Indian culture.
Course requirements
When studying this subject, students must master the main customs and traditions of India, their origins, and how they have changed over time; they must also understand the similarities and differences between these Hindu customs and those of other ethnic groups and religions, and finally, they must be able to compare them with the reality in Vietnam.
To achieve these research results, we would like to express our sincere and profound gratitude to the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the Board of Directors of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi); the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR); the Asian Scholarship Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and others. In particular, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Van Doanh, whose invaluable contributions were invaluable. It is thanks to the dedicated support and assistance, both material and spiritual, from all those involved that I was able to complete this textbook after nearly 10 years of research.
Although we have done our best, due to time constraints and limited expertise, the textbook undoubtedly still contains many errors and shortcomings. We sincerely hope to receive guidance and contributions from readers near and far so that future editions will be of better quality.
Thank you very much.
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1Becker, Howard S, 1982, “Culture: A Sociological View,” Yale Review , 71(4): 513-27.
2Boyd, Robert and Peter J. Richerson, 1985, Culture and the Evolutionary Process, Chicago: University of Chicago Press .