Despite the diversities, Indian culture possesses a fundamental unity, a unity the imprint of which can be found in the literature and thoughts of different communities of the country. The fundamental approach to literature, philosophy, tradition and customs is typically Indian. The basis of the social and cultural unity of the country is common to every group. India is essentially a religious one. People may worship different deities but the religious scriptures-Puranas, Brahmanas, Epics and the Vedas -- knit the numerous heterogeneous groups together into one religious society and given them the sense that their country is sacred. The worshipers may visit different centres of pilgrimage but all have a common goal of earning religious merit by visiting a sacred place. The bond of unity in relation to Indian heritage in a certain underlying uniformity of life have been reflected in the observation of many foreigners also. Beneath the manifold diversity of physical and social type, language, customs and religion which strike the observer in India, there can still be discerned a certain underlying uniformity of life from the Himalayas to Cape Camorin. Unity amidst diversity is visualized in the geo-political sphere, institution of pilgrimage, tradition of accommodation, tradition of interdependence, emotional bond, etc. Therefore, in India cultural tradition could embrace and contain, absorb and assimilate people of all races, religions, castes and creeds.
