INTRODUCTION
Inculturation is a familiar term for all of us. Inculturation is a term used in Christian missiology referring to the adaptation of the way the Gospel is presented for the specific cultures being evangelized. It is attuned - but not identical - to the term enculturation used in Sociology. The term was popularized by the encyclical Redemptoris Missio of Pope John Paul II(1990), but predates that encyclical. In fact St Paul's speech to the Greeks at the Aeropagus of Athens (Acts 17:22-33) could rightly be considered as the first inculturation attempt. The speech was not well received, according to verse 32: "Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked" (ESV). ( All through its long history, as and when necessary, the message of the Gospel was inculturated. In this paper I will be focusing on inculturation in the context of India in general and Hindu culture and religion in particular. we also will try to see the necessity and importence of bringing inculturation in the level of art.
1. INDIA AND CHRISTIANITY
1.1. India and its religious and cultural context
India is considered to be cradle for world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In India we can’t make much distinction between culture and religion. Such separation may cause tension and uneasiness in the society. In India 80.3% of the country’s population consist of Hindus. The other religious groups are the Muslims 11%, the Sikhs 2%, Jains .5%, Buddhists .7% and Christians number is only about 2.4% of the total population. Even when we say that majority are Hindus, it does not mean that they all are belonging to the upper caste Brahmin caste, but they all are belonging to different castes and sub castes. India has a great tradition of great religions and philosophies. It is there in the blood of the people of India, the believes, customs, philosophies that Hinduism proposes. It is important to understand that before Christianity came into existence in its structured form, Hindu religious texts were formed and customs and believes were developed.
1.2 Christianity in India
According to the tradition, St. Thomas , one of the apostles of Christ reached in the south Indian coast along with the traders of Arabia in the year AD 52. He preached the Gospel to the natives and according to the tradition, many people were converted to the Christian faith and then the church was firmly established in India. From the first century itself some historian have described these Christians as “ Hindu in culture , Christian in faith , and Syrian in worship”. The St. Thomas Christians did not make any substantial break with their cultural traditions, which were typically Hindu. In social and cultural practices it was typically an Indian church. But in worship and liturgy it became Chaldean or Syrian. it was the result of Chaldean or Persian connection due to the coming of a colony of Christian immigrants from Persia in the fourth century to Malabar.
1.3 Indian church today
Ancient apostolic church in India is today divided and there are eight different churches with in it, big and small, but oriental in character. Today catholic church in India is a communion of three different individual churches, Syro Malabar , Syro Malankara , and Latine Church. Apart from these churches we have a good number of protestant churches active in India.
2. INCULTURATION
2.1. Meaning of the term ‘inculturation’
By definition, inculturation is "the creative and dynamic relationship between the Christian message and a culture or cultures" (Shorter, 11). The precise nature of this relationship, however, is more difficult to describe. Several writers posit an analogy between inculturation and the Incarnation of Christ. Just as the Logos "took flesh" and entered into the culture of first century Palestine, so must the Christian faith take on the culture of each group that receives the Gospel (Schineller, 6-7). It should be preached in terms familiar to the people, lest they perceive Christianity as something foreign and irrelevant to their way of life. It goes without saying that this idea can have serious implications for the official worship of the Church. One might conclude, in the words of liturgist, Father Anscar Chupungco (1992, 30), that the liturgy must "think, speak, and ritualize according to the local cultural pattern."
2.2. Areas of inculturation
The main constituting elements of a religion is ‘achara’ , ‘vichara’ and ‘sadhana’. The word ‘achara’ means the rituals and practices of a religion, and the word ‘vichara’ indicate the theology of the religion. ‘Sadhana’ is the liturgy of the religion. So when we speak about inculturation it must touch all these three elements. In India various people made efforts to bring inculturation in all these three areas.
3. INDIAN CHRISTIAN ART
3.1 Art in India
Indian paintings unlike western art have evolved in a parallel manner in course of time and space. As a result of religious and cultural impact varied styles of paintings have emerged in different geographical locations. Each style is different from the other by its techniques. But still relationship can be found among these paintings. The paintings in India can be broadly classified into miniature painting and wall paintings. One can find almost all the ancient paintings engraved on the wall of temples and caves. Different types of paintings in India evolved in different period of history. Let us look into most popular types of Indian traditional arts:
Tanjore Paintings: This type of paintings originated in Tamil Naidu. The main characteristics of this style are the excellent ornaments. This art form is entirely made on the wooden boards.
Phad Paintings: This type of painting is made on the cloth named "Phad". The artist typically depicts the stories of travails and adventures of epic heroes and locals through these paintings. This style is executed with non permanent colors like yellow, green, brown, vermilion, and sky blue. The outline to these types of paintings is done with black color.
Madhubani: Madhubani means forest of honey. The origin of this painting is in Mithila region of North India. This style is also known as Mithila painting. During ancient time, the women used to decorate walls of home and prayer room with Madhubani paintings in Mithila. The people beloved that this invoked divine protection in their homes.
Pichvai: Pichvai means something at the back. This style of the paintings depicts scenes from the life of Lord Krishna. This style of traditional paintings in India is also sold commercially.
Kalamkari: This style of paintings was originated in Andhra Pradesh. This is mainly performed on the clothes with help of pointed bamboo. This pointed bamboo is known as pen or kalam. In order to remove the starch from the cloth, it is washed in the river water. After this fabric is dipped in solution of myrobalam, milk, and water and the cloth is then twisted to wring out the water. All this is done before staring the painting.
Kerala mural painting: Speciality of this painting is that only four colours are used in this paiting . they are green , red white and black. All these colous indicate the quality that is seen in a character . Green indicate the satvic guna , red speaks about rajasic guna , white symbolizes tamasic guna and at last black is used for drawing the demons.
It can be said that the traditional arts of India are the true symbols of the country's graceful nature and culture. Among all the styles various famous Indian paintings were created. All these are the examples of the great expression of art
