India is a classic land of agriculture. Its long past history, its complex social organization and religious life, its varied cultural patterns, can hence be understood only if a proper study is made of the rise, growth, crystallization and subsequent fossilization and break up of the self-sufficient village community, the principal pivot of the Indian Society. Rural society in India has acquired a new significance after independence. The agrarian sector provides the very morphological framework for the underdeveloped Indian Society. As a result, constant efforts are being made to re-shape the agrarian social structure, subjecting it to the pressures of actively operating agencies of social change.

This paper attempts to focus the attention on the need of a sociological perspective in studying rural life and outline the approach to study the rural society. It further attempts to portray the picture of the multi-sided and complex rural life and the emerging trends.