New Delhi: UNESCO has included Kolkata’s Durga Puja in its ‘Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage’ and accorded it a unique status in the list of cultural traditions around the world.
Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in September or October, especially in West Bengal. The 10-day festival marks the homecoming of the Hindu goddess Durga and her four children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartikeya.
Every year, UNESCO adds cultural traditions and arts from around the world to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The decision to accord heritage status to Durga Puja in Kolkata was taken during a meeting of UNESCO’s intergovernmental committee in Paris on Wednesday.
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What is Durga Puja in Kolkata inscribed on? #intangible inheritance List.
Congratulations #India , I
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– UNESCO ️ #education #science #culture (@UNESCO) December 15, 2021
“Durga Puja is regarded as the best example of public performance of religion and art, and is seen as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers. The festival is celebrated with large-scale installations and pavilions in urban areas as well as traditional Bengalis are characterized by drumming and goddess worship. During the event, divisions of class, religion and ethnicity are broken down as crowds of spectators flock to admire the establishments,” says the UNESCO website.
The worship of Goddess Durga begins on the day of the inauguration of the Mahalaya. The festival also marks the ‘homecoming’ or seasonal return to its roots, says the UNESCO website.
In 2017, Kumbh Mela was given this recognition. Yoga was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2016, the traditional brass and copper crafts of Punjab in 2014, the sankirtana ritual singing of Manipur in 2013 and the dance forms of Chhau, Kalbeliya and Mudiyettu in 2010.
According to UNESCO, intangible cultural heritage, also called living cultural heritage, is “the practice, expression, knowledge and skill that communities, groups and sometimes individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage”.
Oral traditions, performing arts, ritual and festive events, social practices and traditional craftsmanship are some of the forms in which intangible cultural heritage is expressed.
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