India Holds Celebrations To Mark Inclusion Of Durga Puja In UNESCO List

India on Saturday held celebrations here to mark the UNESCO tag awarded to Kolkata's Durga Puja festival last December as it reaffirmed its commitment to protect and preserve its rich intangible cultural heritage. The event was held at the National Museum here in the presence of top officials of UNESCO, who praised India for its iconic and historic monuments as well its rich and diverse living heritage.

UNESCO representatives have been invited to participate in a pre-Durga Puja celebration to be held on September 1 in Kolkata as a thanksgiving gesture to the world body. The Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO's 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage had added Durga Puja in Kolkata to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity last December. It received the honour during its 16th session held at Paris, France. 

The Committee had commended Durga Puja for its initiatives to involve marginalised groups and individuals as well as women in their participation in safeguarding the element. Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, which hosted the event, said, "We are gathered here to celebrate the inclusion of Durga Puja in UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which is the 14th ICH element to have been inscribed on the list". 

The 10-day festival which will kick off from the last week of next month represents the "feminine 'shakti' (power)". In her address, she emphasised on the "time-tested friendship" between India and UNESCO, and charted the country's association with the world since its early days. India was recently elected as one of the members of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Secretary of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, Tim Curtis, and Director and UNESCO Representative for the UNESCO New Delhi Office, Eric Falt, were present on the dais during the event. "India, perhaps offers more intangible cultural heritage practices than any other country in the world. And, many of them are in need of safeguarding. We at UNESCO work closely with the government of India in preservation of monument and the intangible cultural heritage, which many times tourists miss or are not much aware about," Falt said in his address. 

The recent inclusion of Durga Puja in UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, represents how all stakeholders came together, he said. Later in a press conference, he said, "Tim and I have been invited to take part in celebrations to mark the inscription in Kolkata on September 1. Locally, there is an extraordinary enthusiasm around the inscription and we will be happy to be there locally with people of Kolkata and West Bengal and celebrate this inscription".

Curtis in his address spoke of India's association with the UNESCO's 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, of which India has been an early a signatory. He spoke of some of the changes being brought in operational directive is to make the process of nomination easier and more inclusive. UNESCO will now accept ICH files in the language of the practitioners for evaluation. Of courses, copies in English or French version will have to be sent. This is to ensure that such practitioners can read the documents in their own language, Curtis said.

He also said that since safeguarding living heritage involves transmitting the knowledge to the next generation, education becomes central to this process. Later in a press conference, some reporters asked why the inscription mentions just Kolkata even though Durga Puja is celebrated in entire West Bengal, to which Pandeya responded that this is how it was named in the dossier and it was "purely coincidental" but Durga Puja as an ethos is not limited to just one city or one region.

A senior official of the Sangeet Natak Academy, which prepares the dossier, said, "The UNESCO honour was to Durga Maa in essence and the Indian culture, and Kolkata name is just of representation of that honour". Falt said India has a whole wealth of intangible cultural heritage and focus should be on safeguarding and preserving them. 

(With PTI inputs)