Meaning and Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture

Meaning 

Aesthetic culture is an integral part of the total culture of a society. It expresses the ideas, aspirations, dreams, values, and attitudes of its people. It is assumed that the aesthetic culture of the rural society helps the historical movement of old types and the emergence of a new life for the rural people. Rural sociology to understand the movement of the rural society itself as it progressed from its part shape to its present one. It will also disclose the changes in the psychological structures of the rural people and their subgroups.

Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture of Rural Society 

According to leading sociologists, the following principal arts constitute the aesthetic culture of rural society.

1. Graphic Arts like painting, drawing, engraving, and so on.
2. Plastic Arts involve the manipulation of materials.
3. Folklore comprised proverbs, myths, riddles, and music.
4. Dance and drama combine the three forms mentioned above.

Chief Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture in Subsistence Societies

Herskovief, Sorokin, Limmerman, and Galpina have given various specific characteristics of the aesthetic culture of the rural people. The following are the most important among them:

1. Art Was Fused with Life: In the opinion of Sorokin, “The arts were not sharply differentiated from religion, intellectual pursuit, and magic. Aesthetic elements entered practically all daily occupations.”
2. Every person took part in artistic activities: Present day society where the people are divided into artistic performing and the audience. In the earlier society all people such as men, children women participated in artistic activities. Then a little number of artists existed in that society. 
3. Art was a Feminist Affair: In the early societies the life of the rural people ‘had a feminist character. As a result this rural art, which was fused with the life of the rural people, also bore the impression of feminism. 
4. Simple Techniques: Rural art was the goods of the village artisan industry and the family itself often made some of these at home. This aspect is in sharp contrast to the instruments of modern art which are the products of specialized modern industries and are therefore complex, highly specialized, varied, and multiform.
5. Agrarian life processes the main constituent: Art was fused with life.  It depicted the life of the rural people in various aspects, economic, social, and religious. Agricultural characteristics are most clearly manifest in songs, music, dances, stories, literature, pantomimes, festivals, dramatic performances, and similar forms of the arts. 
6. Art creations were predominantly collective creations, collective in spirit: Rural people collectively perform on various programs such as drams, Jatra, etc. on the other hand urban people perform individually. 
7. Non-commercial: Self-sufficient economy has existed in rural society. They produce for only their consumption not for the market. The thinkers and artists used their artistic products only for their own consumption.
8. Transmission from generation to generation: In the early or pre-modern societies there were no printing presses and there did not any schools or academies. Then the younger learn from the elder about art and knowledge. In this way, art and knowledge are transferred to the younger.

Importance of the Temple in Village Life

A temple besides being a place of worship is also a place where the intelligent priest influence and guides the villagers. The forecasts and premonition of the priest fluencies the village life to a very great extent. The importance of temples can be studied under the following heads:

1. Religious Importance: Basically the temple is a religious place where village men, women, and children offer their prayers to the god. The prayers (Kirtans Bhajans Path etc.) are arranged by the temple priests who at the end distribute sweets. Besides this, daily routine congregations are invited and prayers are organized, it is a commonplace village assembly that signifies unity among the villagers.
2. Social Importance: Temple is a place where the congregation comprising individuals of different castes and groups gather to participate in the organized ceremony. This is how the temple becomes a place where the people belonging to different castes get an opportunity to exchange each other views. When people talk together much tension in their respective minds is reduced. Several programs of social welfare are also conducted in the village temples, sometimes funds are collected at the temple and these funds are spent on so many public works in the village.
3. Moral Importance: Morality flows from the village temple and villagers realize it in their daily life. The village priest is often called to intervene in such a disputed problem in which there is a question of morality or righteousness.
4. Cultural Importance: Temple is a place where cultural festivities are organized. The villager’s cultural life is enriched by the village temple. Group devotional songs and congregations are held to keep the village alive with its cultural traditions. Musical Instruments are used on all such occasions and dances are also performed before the deity. Many village rituals are performed in the temple. The marriages performed in the village temple are sacred and unavoidable. Women visit the temples to propitiate about their husbands and children and on the fulfillment of a desire to visit the temple and offer their presents and prayers.
5. Educational Importance: Temples in ancient India were the source of knowledge and centers of education. Even today many basic schools are run in the temples, it was believed by the people that if they were taught by the priest their religious and moral attitudes would become sound. Not only children, but the priests also teach Youngman and women in so many fields much depends upon the intelligence and personality of the priest, and once it is effective, his words are taken for granted without the slightest doubt.
6. Recreational Importance: Temples, provide healthy recreation to the villagers through their various organized programs. The village temple situated outside the village often becomes a suitable place for holding village gymnasia and other games it is also due belief that for success the participants must take the blessings of God, especially lord Hanumana. Competitions in wrestling are organized and villagers gather in large numbers to please their eyes and acclaim the performances of other participants.
7. Judicial Importance: The village priest is treated as the messenger of god, who alone can do Justice, village priest in this capacity is called to do justice in certain complicated and entangled problems, priest also recommends punishment to get rid of a sin committed by an individual.

This discussion signifies the crucial role of the temples in villages. The life of the villagers is not only influenced but dominated by the village temple. It is a place of unity and aspirations.

Influence of Religion on Rural life

The life of rural people and religious practices are so mixed that it is very difficult to separate Indian rural religion from social life. Generally speaking, all social activities have some religious bearing on the other. The major rural institutions, such as family, marriage, and case are related to religion. Religion dominates the life of villagers and it is respected in the thoughts and conduct of the rural people. It is very difficult to understand the motive of rural people unless their religious background is studied comprehensively.

Influence of Religion on Rural Life

In order to understand the influences of religion on Indian rural life, it is essential to analyze various aspects of rural religion, an attempt of which is being made below:

1. Rural Gods and Goddesses

So many Gods and Goddesses are worshipped by the people in rural India. Following are the most common Gods and Goddess worshipped by the folks.

A.God and Goddesses of Hindus

• Lord Shiva is the most important God worshipped by the people in rural India. Shiva is worshipped under different names. The most famous names used for Lord Shiva are Sankara and Bholebaba.
• Hanuman the legendary figure belonging to satyug is another important God worshiped by Hindus. This deity is worshipped with the belief that Hunuman is a key figure in preventing many kinds of disasters. Like Shiva, Hanuman is worshipped by people of all castes.
• Sun God is also worshipped by the rural people, villagers worship Sun God immediately after taking bath and the devotees offer water to the Sun God.

Besides the above three Gods, other, Gods worshipped in the villages are Rama, Krishna, Agni, Valmiki, Jagannath, etc.

Among the goddesses, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati are the most important goddesses worshipped by the rural people. Kali is worshipped to get rid of diseases, Lakshmi is worshipped as the Goddess of wealth and prosperity while Durga keeps away disaster and evil spirits. Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, and Lord Ganesha is the premise deity in the sense that this deity is worshipped on all occasions before offering prayers or worshipping God and goddess.

B. Non-Hindu Gods and Goddesses

In addition to the above Gods and Goddesses worshiped by the Hindus, there are some deities that do not belong to the Hindu religion but are worshipped by rural people such deities are Shitala Maharani who is worshipped to get rid of smallpox and other epidemics. Bhuiyan Devi and Sati Maharani etc. besides these, many saints are worshipped which vary from region.

There are many Gods and Goddesses that are worshipped by the rural people and such deities are local, the place of worship of such deities is generally out of the village.

C.  Worship of Plants, Trees, and Animals

There is a practice among many villagers to worship trees, plants, and animals, as they are considered divine, the trees, which are offered water and worshipped are Banyan, Neem, and Pipal. Tulsi plant is worshipped nearly throughout rural India and it is held in high esteem of religious considerations.

The cow is worshipped by the Hindus as the sacred mother and its dung is used for purifying the place of worship. In many places, ox and snakes are also worshipped and later as the conclusion of Lord Shiva.

2. Practicability of Indian Religion:

Indian religion is thoroughly practical and Indian people are predominantly religious-minded. The rural people of India are far more deeply involved than urban people in the field of religious activities and worship. To quote Sir Har Court Butler, “The Indians are essentially religious as Europeans are also essentially secular; Religion is still the alpha and the omega of Indian life.” Indian people are concerned to be the only of their kind who seek salvation from this earthly world and their religion provides the ladder for climbing this difficult destination.

The world is considered transitory and an appearance. Reality is an escape from the world and forms the forms which make existence in the world necessary, this observation of Olper tries to discard Indian Religion as beyond the level of practicality and declares it to be escapist other writers like Oscar Lewis prefer Indian religion as most practical and realistic.

3. Belief in Ghosts and Witches: 

Superstitions and mystic aspects of Rural Religion. The rural people believe in Ghosts and witches. There exist different ways to please them as well as rid of them, whenever a man or woman meets an untimely death. It is considered that the soul of the dead is dissatisfied and roams in the village in some form or the other. The soul of a dead man becomes a ghost and the soul of a dead woman becomes a witch. In any case of mental abnormality or reflection by a man or woman in a village is not treated as a mental disease, but it is taken as the effect of either a ghost or a witch and it is treated in a most peculiar manner by a witch doctor called ojha, who is supposed to ward off the haunting ghost or which witch with the power of magic and mantras. The techniques of these Ojhas sometime are so cruel that the affected person has to bear extreme physical torture that may even lead to his death. These Ojhas give some metallic piece to either tie around the arm or wear around the neck to keep the willing spirit away.

4. Belief in Noble Souls: 

Rural people in India believe in good souls without any discrimination and it is considered that these souls help living being in various ways. Such souls are considered to be of dead saints, it is believed that after death if the soul of a saint haunts the village it would protect the village in all respects.

5. The factor of Auspicious and Inauspicious Faith in Dreams: 

Village people believe in so many superstitions concerning the performance of a particular work and journey etc. particular days and months are considered auspicious for doing or undertaking any ventures. Local pundits are contacted to suggest an auspicious day for a ritual and these pundits calculate after consulting patra, a document, and advice the interested parties about the sense; many things like travel on Monday and Saturday in the eastern direction are considered inauspicious. 

People in rural India believe in dreams and it is in some way related to good or bad. However, the interpretation of such dreams is not common everywhere. In general, whatever a person dreams after 4 am is considered to be something related to good or bad in the future. The belief in dreams is basically due to illiteracy and superstition among the villagers.

6. Belief in Omens: 

Rural people assign much importance to good and bad omens particularly when some ritual is to be performed. Bad omens are of various types, for instance, it is a bad omen for a man on the journey if he comes across a one-eyed man during his travel. If anyone sneezes when stepping out of the house, it is considered better to wait for some time. If a cat crosses the way of a person, it is a bad omen for him. Similarly if one looks into an empty pot success is believed. But when a washer man or a dead body or even a donkey meets, it is a good omen.

7. Religious Practices in Dietary Habits: 

In rural India, food is another aspect that is related to the notion of auspiciousness and in auspiciousness. It is considered necessary to take bath before taking a morning meal and different ingredients on different days it is considered good to take beta on Sunday and curd on Tuesday.

8. Superstition and Mystic belief in National phenomena: 

Villagers in India have their own peculiar way of interpreting national phenomena. For instance, Solar and lunar eclipses are treated as the catastrophes of Rahu and Ketu (the legendary figures). It is believed that a black snake (called Shesh Naga) holds the earth on its fangs and any earth tremor and earthquake is taken as the movements of one of the several fangs or undulation of the snake’s excessive rain or no rain is taken as the effect of the rain God India’s anger. The reasons behind these beliefs are some legendary tales as well as the ignorance of the villagers.

Apart from this, the villagers have their own assumptions, about the supernatural. Thus religion in rural India is remarkably full of superstitions and assumptions. It is not escapist but practical in its message as well as its approach to the creation, function, and end of a man’s life.

Difference between Rural Religion vs. Urbanized Religion

Rural Religion vs. Urbanized Religion

1. Crude vs. Refined form of Religion: It is essential to distinguish the crude forms of religion comprising animism, magic, polytheism, mythology, ghost beliefs, and others, which exercise influence over the mind of the rural population, form the refined and subtle forms of religion and religious ideas which exist in cities among the urban intelligential. ‘These refined and subtle religions and religious philosophical speculations on basic problems of life such as the problems of the nature of ultimate reality, the genesis of human knowledge, and others, which markedly distinguish them from the native religious beliefs generated in the rural atmosphere.’
2. Concrete vs. Abstract: Rural religion is crude and concrete in form whereas urbanized religion is abstract. Thus, ‘whereas the rural population worships and falls prostrate before a multitude of gods and goddesses derived out of their animistic conception of the universe, the cultured educated section of the urban humanity subscribes to the idealistic view of the universe and discusses such categories as the nature of Brahman, Free Will, and others.’
3. Fanaticism vs. Rationalism: Even critical rationalism and philosophical materialism as minority philosophical currents flourish in urban centers.
4. Static vs. Dynamic: The rural sociologist needs to distinguish between the crude, almost static, rural religion and the refined and highly abstract urbanized religion which soars in the stratosphere of speculative thought and grapples with ontological, epistemological, and other basic problems of philosophy. Further, he should also note that rationalist and materialist philosophical thought currents found in the urban society are almost absent in the rural area.”
5. Roots in Ignorance Vs. Intelligence: The root of rural religion is in the great, ignorance and ‘resultant fear of the forces of the environment prevailing among the rural people. Refined urban religion, even if based on the erroneous idealistic interpretation of the world, is not born of mere fear. This distinction regarding the psychological roots of rural and urban religions is important.’

How Urban Influence on Rural Society in India?

Urbanization has greatly influenced rural people from all walks of their life and this influence can be seen in the sphere of social organization, family organization, food habits, the standard of living, dress habits, religion, beliefs, etc.

1. Change in Social Life: The greatest influence has been the sphere of social life. The relation between caste and profession is no longer necessary. According to Desiai, “In the social field, the role of custom enforced by the joint family, the caste, and the village panchayat was gradually replaced by the reign of laws made by the centralized British state in India and administered by its own revenue, executive and judicial officials posted in the village. This considerably undermined the powers of the family, the caste, and the village panchayat. 
2. Changes in the Family Organization: The process of urbanization has affected, the family organization in a very extensive way. During the last hundred ad fifty years, the traditional joint family and the family pattern in the rural framework have been undergoing a qualitative transformation. The basis of rural family relationships is shifting from that of status to that of contract. The basis of rural family relationships is shifting from that of status to that of contract. The rule of custom is being replaced by the rule of law. The family is being transformed from a unit of production to a unit of consumption. The cementing bond of the family is being changed from consanguinity to conjugality. Further is ceasing to become an omnibus social agency, it being shown most of its economic, political, educational, medical, religious, and other social and cultural functions. Instead, it is becoming a specialized and affection small association. A massive joint family composed of members belonging to a number of generations has become intolerant of their elders and wants to break away from the village mores. The family system is in a state of disintegration. Life has become more artificial. The standard of morality has fallen. Expensive habits have been acquired.
3. Urbanization has also changed the modes of recreation. In the villages radios are popular. 
4. Change in the mode of living, dress, and food habits. Wristwatches, sunglasses, plants, buy shirts, nylon sarees, and tea can be seen in the villages.
5. The existing rural aesthetic culture is in a state of increasing disorganization. Thus, in the final analysis, is the result of the increasing disorganization of the rural society itself which is the aesthetic reflex. The crisis of culture is the product of the crisis of society.
6. The transformation is taking place in each and every sphere of rural life including the sphere of rural religion. The ideology institutions, rituals, ethics, and aesthetics of the rural religion are undergoing a change, though gradual, under the pressure of new material and cultural forces.
7. The process of urbanization has also influenced the political life of the villagers. In recent times, however, due to the growth of class consciousness among various groups into which the rural population is divided into economic lines, the influence on political life is slowly diminishing. For instance, non-Brahmin landlords will politically ally with Brahmin landlords rather than with their non-Brahmin tenants since both the Brahmin and the non-Brahmin landlords stand for the defense of landlordism, then common economic interest. Similarly, the Brahmin and the non-Brahmin tenants will more and more come together and form a kisan sabha or a peasant party with the program of the abolition of landlordism and transfer of land to the tillers of the land, both Brahmin and non-Brahmin.

Thus urbanization has affected rural life completely. There is a change in the family organization, old practices are melting down, political awareness is strengthening, and fashions and way of life is being adopted.