India is a land of infinite diversities and a centuries old civilization. The diversity of India, which encompasses the land from the Himalayas in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south, is immense. Indian civilization is one of the oldest in the world. A world renowned scholar of ancient Indian culture and religion, A.L Basham writes:

“There are four main cradles of Civilization in which elements of culture have spread to other parts of the world. There are, moving from East to West, China, the Indian sub-continent, the ‘fertile crescent, and the Mediteranian especially Greece and Italy. Of these four areas India deserves the largest share of the credit that she is usually given, because, on a minimal assessment, she has deeply affected the religious life of most of Asia and has provided very important elements in the culture of the whole South East Asia as well as extending her influence, directly and indirectly to other parts of the world”.(A. L. Basham, A Cultural History of India)