Culture
The states of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat are varied and distinct. 450 years of Portuguese rule has influenced Goa greatly. The architecture of Goa is a unique blend of Indian and Portuguese cultures. Goa is also well known for its beaches, temples and churches.
Maharashtrian culture derives from the ancient Indo-Aryan Vedic culture influenced deeply by the Maratha Empire and British colonial rule. Maharashtrians take great pride in the Maratha Empire, and many places in Maharashtra are named after the founder of the Empire, Shivaji. Marathi literature and cinema are popular in the state as well as across India.
Gujarati culture includes both Hindu and Islamic influence. It has also been influenced by the Parsis, who migrated to Gujarat from Iran about a 1000 years ago. Recently events like Rann Utsav, International Kite Festival and Global Garba festivals have been started to showcase its culture internationally. Mumbai and Goa are renowned for their nightlifes. Bollywood has had a huge impact on the lifestyle and culture of this part of India as Bollywood is situated in Mumbai.
Read more about this topic: West India
Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“Nobody seriously questions the principle that it is the function of mass culture to maintain public morale, and certainly nobody in the mass audience objects to having his morale maintained.”
—Robert Warshow (1917–1955)
“As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“No race has the last word on culture and on civilization. You do not know what the black man is capable of; you do not know what he is thinking and therefore you do not know what the oppressed and suppressed Negro, by virtue of his condition and circumstance, may give to the world as a surprise.”
—Marcus Garvey (1887–1940)