Quote Originally Posted by Haivart
No, Indian culture is not "pure" -- whatever that means. Are you referring to the north or the south? Before the Aryan migration, or after? Before Islam, or after? And neither is Arabic, even with the influence of Islam.
But still "quite" pure (not completely of course). I meant after the Aryan invasion as before that civilisation wasn't really India. It was even purer before the arrival of Islam, but only 12% of India's population is now Muslim, despite the numerous monuments left by former rulers. Anyhow, we can safely say that the Muslim architecture of India is original and "Indian" enough to be different from other Muslim countries. It's not like China, Korea and Japan where it is sometimes hars to tell from a picture from which country is a Buddhist temple.

For me religion itself is not "culture"; it is the local culture that fashions religion to fit the mindset of the local population. This can several centuries, but eventually one same religion splits in various branches and is practised differently in different culturl areas. That's why "Christianity" does not have the same meaning at all for American and Europeans, and between them, for Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants and Orthodox. One thing unique about India is the number of religion that sprang from its original culture, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and even Sikhism by fusion with Islam. What makes it "pure" or "unique" is that 3 of these 4 religions are almost exclusively found in India (emigrants notwithstanding, of course), and we could also add the Zoroastrian, originally from Persia, but only found in India (and Pakistan and Sri Lanka) nowadays.

Then, if you have been to India, you know it's a totally different place from almost anywhere else in the world. East Asian and South-East Asian countries share a lot in common, so that while in Japan you sometimes feel like it could be Thailand or China. I have never felt like I was on a different planet in East Asia, while I did in India (and only in India, not even Nepal). Maybe that is because India has resisted "cultural westernisation" more than East Asian countries. It has kept its 5000-yera old class system well alive, while Japan got rid of its 250-year old class system in the late 19th century. No McDonalds, no Italian or Chinese restaurants, almost no clothes, food, cars or other consumer products imported from Western countries... That's in this regard that I saw Indian culture as "purer" than Japan's, or that of most other countries in the world. The only major cultural import from India is cricket, and it has almost died out in its country of origin...

We could try and make a list of cultural stuff imported by India, but apart from a bit if Islam and Christianity, and cricket (which are really leftovers of invasions and colonisation, rather than "imports"), there isn't much...