Matter of great pride! Durga Puja included in UNESCO's 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' list
UNESCO said that Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers.
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New Delhi, Dec 16: In a huge acknowledgment, UNESCO has included Durga Puja in Kolkata to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was taken during the ongoing sixteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), announcing the decision, said, "Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers". It said that the festival also signifies ‘home-coming’ or a seasonal return to one’s roots, because the idols of Durga and other Gods and Goddesses are made using clay from the Ganga River, and the idols are immersed at the end of the puja in the same river.
"Congratulations! Durga puja is now inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity! 14 ICH elements from India have been inscribed on this list by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage," tweeted UNESCO.
Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister said, "A matter of great pride and joy for every Indian! Durga Puja highlights the best of our traditions and ethos. And, Kolkata's Durga Puja is an experience everyone must have."
Notably, the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity includes practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill which is considered by UNESCO as a part of the cultural heritage of a place. As intangible heritage, it does not include buildings, monuments, artifacts etc. It includes non-physical intellectual wealth, 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.
The Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO examines requests submitted by states for the inscription of intangible heritage on the lists as well as proposals for programs and projects. Kolkata’s Durga Puja was India’s submission for the list this year.
According to UNESCO, "Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in September or October, most notably in Kolkata, in West Bengal of India, but also in other parts of India and amongst the Bengali diaspora. It marks the ten-day worship of the Hindu mother-goddess Durga. In the months preceding the festival, small artisanal workshops sculpt images of Durga and her family using unfired clay pulled from the Ganga River. The worship of the goddess then begins on the inaugural day of Mahalaya, when eyes are painted onto the clay images to bring the goddess to life. It ends on the tenth day, when the images are immersed in the river from where the clay came. Thus, the festival has also come to signify ‘home-coming’ or a seasonal return to one’s roots. Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers. The festival is characterized by large-scale installations and pavilions in urban areas, as well as by traditional Bengali drumming and veneration of the goddess. During the event, the divides of class, religion and ethnicities collapse as crowds of spectators walk around to admire the installations."
