Culture of Uttar Pradesh

A cultured, genteel lifestyle was the essence of the rule of the Muslim Nawabs of Awadh. Music, dance, literature, poetry, arts and crafts flourished under royal patronage. Women were encouraged to learn the fine arts and to read and write, albeit within the ‘purdah’. Literateurs, painters, dancers and musicians created masterpieces in their respective genres.

Writers like Munshi Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Srikant Verma, poets like Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, Harivanshrai Bacchan, Sumitra Nandan Pant, Mahavir Prasad Dwiwedi, and Upendranath ‘Ashk’; artistes of the stature of the shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, Kathak wizard Birju Maharaj, tabla maestro Kishan Maharaj, the legendary Baba Allaudin Khan and his disciples Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan; ghazal singers Begum Akhtar, Rasoolan Bai, Girija Devi and many more have lived and practised their art and craft here. Uttar Pradesh is the birthplace of Kathak, a classical dance genre that was traditionally performed in temple precincts, relating mythological tales to common people but was given patronage and adapted by the rulers of Awadh,(modern day Lucknow) into its present form of artistic expression.

Uttar Pradesh has a rich tradition of craftsmanship. Ranging from exquisitely woven carpets, to gold embroidery or zardozi, priceless hand woven Banarasi silk sarees and chikankari or shadow embroidery on fine cotton voiles and muslins. The state is also famous for its glassware, brass inlay, marble ware inlaid with semi-precious stones and ivory carving (now replaced by camel-bone and sandalwood carving).