Durga Puja: UNESCO’s ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ List

In News

• The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

About

• In total, 14 Intangible Cultural Heritage elements from the country have now been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List.
  • Earlier, UNESCO announced the Harappan city of Dholavira in Gujarat as India’s 40th world heritage site.
• The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has 492 elements currently. 
• Durga Puja: 
  • It is a five-day festival that begins on the fifth night of the nine-day Navratri festival and ends on the tenth day, which is Dashami. During this time, people collectively worship and invoke Goddess Durga, who is regarded as the feminine energy of the cosmos, also known as ‘Shakti’.
  • Though originating in West Bengal, which has the largest Bengali community in the country, the festival is celebrated in many other parts of India, and also the world.

What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?

• As per UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.
• UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.
• The list was established in 2008 when the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage took effect.

Implications

• This inscription will offer encouragement to the local communities that celebrate Durga Puja, including all the traditional craftspeople, designers, artists, and organizers of large-scale cultural events, as well as tourists and visitors who partake in the inclusive festivity that is Durga Puja.
• Earlier this year (2021), the British Council in India had mapped the creative economy of Durga Puja to over Rs. 32,000 crore for the year 2019 and added that the festival contributes 2.58% of West Bengal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

• UNESCO was formed in 1945, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) based in Paris.
• It works for achieving peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.
• It has 195 member states and ten associate members. India is a founding member of the Organisation.
  • In 2019, the USA and Israel formally left UNESCO.

Source: IE