Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is folklore ?
A: Folklore is an important component in the quest for cultural heritage of India. Culture is a sum of total of traditions, customs, beliefs, faiths, attitudes, practices, behaviors, norms and values. These are shaped and shared within families, neighbourhood, and communities.
Q: How old folklore is ?
A: Indian sub-continent has a continuous tradition that extends back to more than twelve millennia BC. In its initial stages it assimilated into itself three different cultures – the tribal, the settled village and, Vedic cultures.
Q: Why Folklore is important?
A: Wherein written records are not available, as in the case of Neolithic and Harappan periods, in such instances folk traditions of today link the loose pages of cultural history that are missing in archaeological records.
Q: What is Indian cultural heritage?
A: Indian cultural heritage has been the product of two streams of thought and practices – first is folk traditions that belong to the oral traditions operate at folk levels, secondly those that belong to sophisticated literary traditions. Though these two thoughts are interdependent yet the roots of the higher traditions lie in the little traditions.
Q: What is the relation between folklore, Vedic culture and Hatappan Culture?
A: Vedic traditions and Harappan Civilization, both had their roots in early agricultural communities. These two had interchange of ideas with folk traditions.
Q: What is the traditional folk art?
A: Folklife and traditional arts are an important part of our living cultural heritage. Tradition bearers pass this knowledge on from one generation to the next, one person to another. With each change of hands, what is important from the past is kept and cherished and little bits of wisdom and beauty are added.
Q: What is classical art?
A: Historic development of professional village craftsmanship like its content and tends, towards classical art.
Q: What are folk stories?
A: The lofty thoughts of the society and highest metaphysical truths, normally incomprehensible to laymen, contains in subtle story form, are called folk stories.