Role of Culture in Development

By Kapila Vatsyayan

About the Book
This book covers a spectrum of topics related to culture and development that Dr Kapila Vatsyayan presented on different occasions and platforms. “Culture” has a wide meaning and varied interpretations. The term “development” is equally loaded and complex. Both the terms mean different to different persons. Development sans cultural values and ethos makes no sense. Therefore, interlinking of developmental programmes with cultural and educational programmes is imperative.
The volume thus discusses topics such as underlying concepts of the Indian cultural heritages; cultural configuration; profiling of cultural development; cultural tourism, its scope and impacts; new educational policy and the need to incorporate cultural goals in it; cultural osmosis between India and Indonesia; cultural patterns of India; what is culture from the Indian perspective; challenges in institutionalizing culture; cultural relations between India and Indo-China countries; and the contribution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for providing a unique identity to Indian culture.
It also deals with Mahatma Gandhi’s blueprint on development and the report of World Commission on Culture and Development; Lenin’s role in making culture available to the Soviet masses and speaks about an ecology of human resources; and contributions of the Orientalists and the present status of Oriental institutes, among some other topics.

About the Author
Kapila Vatsyayan, Chairperson, IIC-International Research Division, India International Centre, New Delhi, and a former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), is a well-known and leading scholar of interrelatedness of the arts. She was the founder-director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi, and has been Secretary, Government of India in the Department of Arts and Culture, where she was involved in framing policies with regard to many institutions of higher education and culture in India. She has also been the President, India International Centre; and Member, UNESCO Executive Board. She is the author of over thirty books, including Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts (1968), The Square and the Circle of Indian Arts (1983), and a series of monographs on the Gita Govinda. She has conceived and organized conferences and exhibitions covering a range of concerns in Indian art, education and culture, and is the editor and general editor of several publications. In 2011, she was honoured with the “Padma Vibhushan” by the Government of India.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.K. Printworld
• Release date: Apr 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9788124609958

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Publisher’s Note

Culture is an enigmatic term. It has been defined in many ways by anthropologists, policy makers and lay persons. It is often said that there are as many definitions of culture as there are peoples of the world. Culture is also considered at its finest and subtlest as the essence of a body of values, experienced and articulated through diverse expressions, be it science, philosophy, literature, architecture and the other arts. Its meaning is wide and its interpretations are varied.

Development is equally loaded and complex. It also arose out of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century industrial, scientific, technological situation where progress, linear progression along an unidimensional path of economic growth became key indicators for assessing the quality of life. While the attributes of development were largely industrialization, higher economic growth rates and assessment of the quality of life, culture became an impediment, a necessary hurdle, to be crossed if economic well-being was to be achieved.

This volume is a collection of articles/speeches by the eminent art historian, Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, contributed on different occasions spread over a few decades. It attempts to cover the varied topics related to culture and development. Towards a Cultural Policy underlines the need for a cultural policy and the imperativeness of interlinking developmental programmes with that of cultural and educational programmes. In all developmental programmes, along with the economic core, cultural core also has to be taken into account so that the tribal and rural societies are neither made into static, fossilized societies, nor relegated into a minimal subsistence level. In framing our cultural policy, we should also keep in mind the multiracial, multilinguistic and multicultural composition of our country.

Some Underlying Concepts of the Indian Cultural Heritage talks about the cultural heritage of India which lies in its recognition of sustaining an inner landscape of man which is the centre and the recognition that it expresses itself in an outer landscape of man, comprising myriad petals of a lotus flower. All manifestations in time and space, varied and different, are the rainbow colours of a single white luminosity.

Cultural Configuration discusses the primary level of culture and natural environment, culture as a myth, and the indistinguishable nature of religion and culture. Our configuration of culture – religious, educational, scientific, technical – is exactly a configuration which is a process of interactive relationship between man and the elements, between and amongst man and men, and the interplay of the outer and the inner, the centrifugal and the centripetal, and the rotating and revolving movements of each unit of the configuration.

Post-Independent India had to undertake a multi-faceted approach in managing its cultural affairs as it was understood in its broadest framework, encompassing all activities of the human being, ranging from the most personal and subjective to those of large mass congregations in the tribal, rural and urban milieu. Cultural Development: A Profile addresses issues such as the dichotomy between the institutions of traditional culture and the institutions of modern education, the challenges that the government had to face in giving culture a fillip, the bringing of the tribal and marginal communities into the cultural limelight, establishment of new cultural institutions, development of a museum system, establishment of institutes for the study of religions and efforts to give Sanskrit a new identity and the focus on the development of Indian languages.

Cultural Dimensions of Tourism speaks about the phenomenon of cultural interaction between civilizations. In the backdrop of tourism, we have different heads such as spiritual tourism, nature tourism, culture tourism – all the arts and monuments are part of it – and so on. Can we, through the media of nature, monuments and the arts, communicate to every tourist our cultural heritage and legacy? Tourism has helped in assimilating features of different cultures into our culture. However, these assimilations should not decay or pollute the profound values that encompass our monuments, mountains, water bodies and the arts.

A new educational policy is expected to equalize different levels of society and different groups by stressing the need for cultural awareness and training for the formally educated and providing education to the cultured masses of India. Cultural Goals of New Educational Policy addresses many a challenge in setting and achieving those goals and suggests that special efforts are required for the improvement and enlargement of higher levels of training in archaeology, art history, performing and plastic arts, museology, archival, archives, literatures and languages, and oral traditions.

Cultural Osmosis between India and Indonesia delineates the phenomenon of a continuous and an unbroken dialogue between both countries at the level of civilizational and cultural traits, which is manifested in a variety of ways.

For a meaningful understanding of Asian cultural patterns, one must come across its proverbial multiplicity and plurality on all levels of human existence. Cultural Patterns of Asia vividly talks about this phenomenon.

Culture and Development is about the different meanings of the terms culture and development. It draws attention to Mahatma Gandhi’s blueprint on development and the report of the World Commission on Culture and Development.

Culture: The Crafting of Institutions puts forth the challenges that Independent India had to face. There was a definite dichotomy between the traditional institutions of the arts and languages and the modern institutions, founded on Western system of education. Negotiating these worlds was a Herculean task. To have a dialogue among cultures, the government had to set up many institutions, to relive Sanskrit, to excavate the past and so on.

Institutionalizing Culture: Contemporary Issues of Administrative System expresses concerns over the way the cultural institutions are managed. Department of Culture was brought under different ministries for varied reasons, hampering the set objectives. This made only a partial success to various culture-related initiatives. The institutions set up to promote culture are of a different call and they should be autonomous in nature for better and effective functioning.

Jottings on Indian Culture is a review article of A Cultural History of India, edited by A.L. Basham. This book enables one to understand the whole in relation to the parts of Indian cultural milieu both in spatial and temporal terms.

Vladimir Lenin made the Russian culture and heritage available to the people of erstwhile Soviet Union after the October Revolution by different media. The chapter Lenin and His Role in Making Culture Available to the Masses reminds one of his serious efforts in this regard. Taking a cue from the Russian experience, it is to suggest that the Indian heritage must be made accessible to each and every citizen, and the young Indian must know his heritage even if he wants to reject it.

Perspectives on Cultural Relations between India and Indo-China is an overview of India’s cultural relations with the countries in the Indo-China region. Indian culture, religions, epics and Sanskrit language played a pivotal role in the cultural development of these countries. Angkor Vat is a living example. All the countries of Indo-China are home to the refined traditions of music, dance, theatre, puppetry, mural paintings, ivory and silver carving, and textiles.

The chapter Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: An Alternative Approach is an audit of the contributions of SCs and STs in providing the nation a cultural identity. Though these sections of the society were not formally educated, their practical knowledge, oral traditions, crafts, music, dance, etc. make them as vibrant as that of technically educated people.

The chapter Toward an Ecology of Human Resources is a reiteration that a human being, who has an integral vision, is self-conscious and is aware of the interrelatedness of all life forms of matter and energy, and one lives and conducts himself in a spirit of humility that he is only one among many living organisms on this planet Earth.

Wither Orientalism? is an assessment of the status of Oriental institutes and the contribution of the Orientalists, such as Max Müller in bringing to light much hitherto neglected material, publishing texts, even if incorrectly translated. Though Orientalism has lost its sheen now, one cannot undermine its contributions.

A reader may notice some repetition across chapters owing to the fact that these articles were written for different occasions, spanning a period of four decades. The author tried to provide a wide perspective to the reader on the significance of a quintessential relationship between culture and development. Mere economic development without cultural richness holds no good for any society.

Chapters 1-3, 5, 7, 9-12 and 16-17 were parts of different publications, published during the time span of four decades. Their original appearance has been acknowledged as footnote at the beginning of the respective chapter. Chapters 4, 6, 8 and 13-15 are getting published for the first time in this volume.

Contents

Publisher’s Note

1. Towards a Cultural Policy

2. Some Underlying Concepts of the Indian Cultural Heritage

3. Cultural Configuration

4. Cultural Development : A Profile

5. Cultural Dimensions of Tourism

6. Cultural Goals of New Educational Policy

7. Cultural Osmosis between India and Indonesia

8. Cultural Patterns of Asia

9. Culture and Development

10. Culture : The Crafting of Institutions

11. Institutionalizing Culture

12. Jottings on Indian Culture

13. Lenin and His Role in Making Culture Available to the Masses

14. Perspectives on Cultural Relations between India and Indo-China

15. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes : An Alternative Approach

16. Toward an Ecology of Human Resources

17. Whither Orientalism?

Index

1

Towards a Cultural Policy

*

For any meaningful discussion on cultural policies or cultural activities in the context of India it is essential to keep constantly in view the complex, intricate, multilayered, multidimensional cultural fabric of the country, both in time and space. Such a framework would be necessary for the study of any civilization but is imperative in a situation of incredible cultural continuity which has survived through 5,000 years of history marked by periods of unrest, invasions, wars, political subjugation, economic underdevelopment and one which has conditioned, guided and governed the value system of a whole people, today numbering 650 million, spread over an area of 3,276,141 sq. km comprising a bewildering multiplicity of races, castes, ethnic groups, subcultures and religious sects.

From the earliest times, it appears that there was a self-conscious awareness of this attribute of culture in man and the need to cherish and nurture it assiduously at all times, both in moments of crisis and peace. Verbal intellectual formulations of the concept and its place in the life pattern began early. Almost anticipating the modern definition of culture (which encompassed practically all human activity) the Indian seer conceived of culture as the sum total of the equipment of the human individual which enables him to be attuned to his immediate environment on the one hand and to the historical past on the other. The idea of continuity as also a recognition of the need for a constant readiness for adaptation and assimilation was inherent in the concept of the still centre of being manifested through a multiplicity of intellectual disciplines, artistic expressions and modes of behaviour: conduct and action was fundamental to such a view. Culture was the touchstone by which the very quality of life was judged and the yardstick by which its rhythm and pace were measured. Finally, it was a matter of ultimate value by which the individual answered himself and the society around. Little wonder then that in the hierarchy of values it received a high priority second only to the highest, i.e. in the realm of the spirit. A cultivation of the self was both for individual harmony, equanimity and tranquillity and for the ends of social and moral right. Only the disciplined cultivated man, fully in control of his body, emotions and mind, and spirit could hope to strive for spiritual salvation and be capable of facing the challenge of the life of action; in his immediate spatial environment, it was believed that one could aspire and achieve a state of release, a beatitude here and now, and not in a birth hereafter; it was for the individual to will and work for it. The paths and vehicles for this cultivation of self were many: the idea of choice and freedom was essential, for one chose according to one’s calling and potential. The words used in the context of the arts are significant, for they speak of the importance and value given to this sphere of human activity and the approach towards them. Words like yoga, a yajña (a ritualistic sacrifice), a sādhanā (a concentrated activity of a selfless nature, requiring an objective negative capability on the part of the doer – the artist or craftsman) are frequent in treatises of aesthetics dating back to the second century bce and legendary stories whose origins can be traced even earlier to Vedic and pre-Vedic myths and symbols.

A reading of the texts of poetry, literature, ritual, philosophy and aesthetics, polity, sciences (such as astronomy and mathematics), technical disciplines (like medicine), and of recreation and entertainment ranging from archery and horse riding to swimming, leaves an overwhelming impression of an attitude to life which accepted beauty at all levels and considered an integrated development of the human personality essential for a healthy society.

Perhaps it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that this path of culture and cultivation with a full-throated ease and joy of living was distinct from the path of the ascetic chosen by a significant few. While it is not possible in this study to trace the academic history of the lively debate on the manifold ways of the cultivation of the self and the history of the formulations on culture (more particularly the arts), or to recount the social history of the arts and artists in India, it is necessary to bear in mind that these approaches and attitudes have filtered down to the present generation to a varying degree and continue to have relevance. For the same reason, it would be pertinent to remember that while Indian democracy is young, the conceptual thinking of the people has links with a vigorous body of tradition with a long and complex history. Interdependence or interrelationship, while maintain identifiable autonomy, is the central repetitive motif of this pattern of living and organization. In culture, there was a self-conscious recognition of this principle which made it such an important stage of evolution of the inner man and an indispensable vehicle for creating an atmosphere of harmony and peace for the outer man.

The theoretical discussions and philosophic speculations on culture may have been meaningless, had the concepts not permeated into the being of the individual and the community, the artist and the audience alike, demanding of the second and equal effort for the shared experience to be complete. Further the world view embodied in these conceptions was not restricted to the intellectual few: it was known, recognized and shared by all strata of society, irrespective of economic social or political status.

The main objectives of the cultivation of the self and the need for continual communication resulted in two distinct streams in the Indian cultural pattern. The first made it a strictly personal activity for individual evolution, and the second an essentially participative activity. The streams flowed separately, but often co-mingled, deepened and enriched each other.

The forms which emerged and of which there is an abundance of literary, archaeological and sculptural evidence, speak of cultural development where successive waves of different civilizations and influences and even invasions acted only to enrich the fundamental tradition. Influences, borrowings, impressions, all fell into a distinct Indian pattern, adhering to some fundamentals, but having the capacity to assimilate, synthesize, to grow continually and evolve new patterns always, however, with an unmistaken Indian identity.

Asian Setting

In order to speak meaningfully about a cultural policy which would be valid for India, it is necessary to place the Indian context against an Asian landscape, because in matters of theoretical conceptualization and societal structures as also artistic manifestations, India shares with Asia the proverbial multiplicity and plurality at all levels of human existence – be it ecological, ethnic–racial, linguistic, socio-economic, religious, political or artistic. In spite of all attempts of philosophers, historians, sociologists and politicians to classify and categorize the cultural patterns of this vast continent, it has not been possible to evolve a conceptual model which will respond to the manifold realities of the regions, sub-regions and nations which constitute this vast geographical unit called Asia.

Let us then begin with the basic reality of ecology and of the geophysical features which have shaped and governed the lifestyle of the people of this continent, as a whole, more significantly than in those continents where Man and Nature are no longer in dialogue and communication with each other. Our purpose is not however to enter the debate of man and his relationship to Nature on the level of speculative thought or literary creativity but to show how the geophysical reality makes its appearance again and again in the cultural patterns which are found in different parts of Asia. Behind this continuity of the dialogue lies perhaps an avowed faith of man not in confrontation with Nature but in dialogue with it and as part of the total phenomena of the cosmos. The ancient cosmologies and the mythologies of all parts of Asia draw attention to this in several ways: today it continues in the lifestyle of each of these groups, both at the level of speculative thought and at the level of artistic expression. The Japanese and Chinese brushwork and the Japanese garden and the Indian artist’s preoccupation with animal and plant life for twenty centuries or more is not without significance. Man is one amongst many in the total cosmic phenomena and not the central figure conquering nature.

If this was not an experiential reality at all levels of Asian cultures, it would be irrelevant to take note of it in a discussion of cultural patterns. The cultural patterns, be they in anthropological terms or artistic terms, continue to embody this one factor at all levels. Cognizance must be taken of the manifestation of this in what is known as the folk or popular arts and the classical traditions of practically all countries of Asia whether those of Central Asia or South Asia or South-East Asia or East Asia. Man–Nature relationship naturally takes different forms by virtue of the diversity of the ecology of Asia. In India, this conception is concretized in the cults ranging from the Dhartī Mātā in tribal India to the Pr̥thvī Sūkta of the Vedic India. Continuities can be observed in all parts of Asia where analogous cosmologies were involved. Closely related to this is the conception of the vertical pole, the axis mundi, which connects heaven and earth, be it in the form of the tree or the Khambheśvarī or Narasiṁha or other iconical forms.

To this one has to add the reality of the numerous racial groups which constitute the large population of the continent. There are Aryans, the Indo-Aryans, the Mongoloid, the Tibeto-Mongoloid, the Malay and many others. None of these groups is restricted to a particular country and certain common features can be discerned today amongst the racial groups belonging to different countries. The tribes and the other groups which constitute some of these ethnic subgroups have given rise to a diversity of cultural patterns, which has often been described as a different culture each twelve miles. And yet all these ethnic types can be grouped together by virtue of their autonomous and diffusionist tendencies, which cut across national and political boundaries. The racial and ethnic reality has to be seen in close proximity of an equally staggering multiplicity of linguistic groups, languages and dialects. Again the languages and their groupings cannot be restricted to particular countries; there is a flow out and flow into adjacent and remote areas. The linguistic groupings and affinity result in a peculiar consanguinity which is sometimes intangible but which is certainly discernible.

The social structures of the population repeat this picture where a variety of social structures can be seen in each region. Also there is an affinity amongst different regions at particular levels of society. Thus the tribal groups of Asia can be regrouped from the point of view of the dominant organizational patterns.

There is the coexistence in practically all parts of Asia of a tribal belt, whether of the hills, plains, marshlands, deserts or sea coasts. In some areas there is one belt, in others a multiple tribal belts. The consanguinity and the divergence of each of these tribal groups can be identified by regrouping them from the perspective of social organization. The Nagas of Manipur, for instance, have many features in common with groups in Burma and Thailand. We must also remember that unlike Europe and America, these tribal groups are not in isolated pockets in vast industrialized complexes, nor can they be termed aborigine. In spite of their being illiterate, they form a vital section of the society. Often very sophisticated, chiselled forms of artistic expression and even rituals have tribal roots as has been pointed out by Prof. Kosambi in the case of India and Wales Quaritch and Prof. Hall in the case of South-East Asia.

The tribal belt and groupings provide richness for national culture and thus no modern state has ever sought to obliterate them. The painful transition to a better way of life which the National Geographic Atlas speaks of and which is often voiced by others, is brought about by shocks through the establishment of a steel plant or a cement factory but the functional changes have so far not been able to destroy the intrinsic lifestyle of these people. The time has come when recognition of the positive aspects of their lifestyle is dawning upon the education elite. Indeed a careful analysis of many elements of sophisticated great traditions will reveal many tribal roots. Many rituals and social rites of the esoteric traditions have tribal affinities. The tribal society has in turn been assimilating many elements of the literary traditions. Rāmāyaṇa has penetrated into many tribal levels in South-East Asia and India.

The social structure of the village communities differs from region to region, area to area but continues to be the main base of Asian society, whether industrialized or pre-industrialized. The domestication of animals, sheep, goats, horses and chicken along with the method of growing food crops – rice, wheat, barley, sugar cane and coconut – has been responsible for lifestyle where functionality and the ideation have gone on together. Pottery, making of plough and wheel, the metallurgical techniques connected with bronze and copper have a utility and immediate function. Overlaid on that utility is a cosmic significance which is given to each object and