Durga Puja added to UNESCO's Intangible heritage list; PM Modi says matter of great pride for the entire nation
Source : Business Today
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday added West Bengal's largest annual festival Durga Puja to its ‘Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity' list.
“Durga puja in Kolkata has just been inscribed on the intangible heritage list. Congratulations India,” the UN agency posted on Twitter with a picture of an idol of the goddess attached to it.
🔴 BREAKING
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) December 15, 2021
Durga Puja in Kolkata has just been inscribed on the #IntangibleHeritage list.
Congratulations #India 🇮🇳! 👏
ℹ️https://t.co/gkiPLq3P0F #LivingHeritage pic.twitter.com/pdQdcf33kT
Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
"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," UNESCO said on its Intangible Cultural Heritage page.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed UNESCO’s decision. Taking to Twitter, he 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."
A matter of great pride and joy for every Indian!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 15, 2021
Durga Puja highlights the best of our traditions and ethos. And, Kolkata’s Durga Puja is an experience everyone must have. https://t.co/DdRBcTGGs9
Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DONER G Kishan Reddy in a tweet said that this is a recognition of the confluence of India’s rich heritage, culture, rituals and practices and a celebration of the feminine divinity and the spirit of womanhood.
Durga Puja in Kolkata joins the @UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is a recognition of the confluence of our rich heritage, culture, rituals & practices and a celebration of the feminine divinity & the spirit of womanhood.
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) December 15, 2021
Jai Maa Durga! pic.twitter.com/i4lNCfwWn7
With the inscription of Kolkata’s Durga Puja, India now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity. In recent years, the ICH elements that saw inscriptions are Kumbh Mela (inscribed 2017), Yoga (inscribed 2016), among others.
"India is a signatory of the 2003 UNESCO Convention which aims for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage along with traditions and living expression," the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
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