The coming Durga Puja will be extra special in Kolkata. The celebration has been inscribed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity by UNESCO. It is the 14th Indian event on the list, the others include Yoga, Vedic Chanting, Buddhist Chanting in Ladakh, Chau Dance, Ramlila, Navroz and Kumbh Mela.
While Kolkata's Durga Puja got the UNESCO inscription late last year, the formal functions are happening only now, with the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. Secretary of UNESCO's Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Culture Heritage, Tim Curtis and Eric Falt, who is director and representative of the UNESCO office in New Delhi attended a function at the National Museum in New Delhi on Saturday to celebrate the inscription. The UNESCO team will head to Kolkata next month, ahead of the start of the festival, to join the city's enthusiasm on getting the inscription.
Falt said that nowhere in the world are there so many proud traditions as in India. The country's living heritage represents a gold mine for India, he said.
India is one of the early signatories to the ICH convention. The ICH convention will complete 20 years next year. It is an important time for India as the country has been elected a committee member for the next four years, said Curtis.
According to UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage indicates 'the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their Cultural Heritage'. Inscription on the ICH gives that cultural event an international recognition and attention. It helps raise awareness about the event and also brings recognition, financial and other benefits to the knowledge bearers of that intangible cultural heritage.
Yoga, for instance, was already well-known and practised around the world. However, getting an ICH inscription as well as the summer solstice being marked by the United Nations as the International Day of Yoga has elevated the status of the ancient practice globally.
Falt said that India perhaps offers more intangible cultural heritage practices than any other country in the world. Many of them are in need of safeguarding. “We at UNESCO work closely with the government of India in preservation of monuments and the intangible cultural heritage, which many times tourists miss or are not much aware about,” he said.
The celebration on Saturday kickstarts a capacity building workshop on preserving cultural heritage, which is being organsied by the Ministry of Culture.
An event or living heritage is selected by a UNESCO team keeping several parameters in mind. Curtis said that Kolkata Durga Puja was selected, among other reasons, for its “inclusive safeguarding measures”. A country can only submit one entry at a time. India, with 14 inscriptions, is among the leading nations. China has the maximum with over 30 inscriptions. Other countries with several ICH tags are Croatia, France, Peru and Japan. India shares the Navroz ICH tag with Iran and several other countries in Central Asia and which celebrate the Spring Equinox as Navroz. It is reported that India has submitted the Garba of Gujarat as its next entry for an ICH inscription.