Lok Sabha Question No. 2619 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-12
Subject: Intangible Cultural Heritage Status to Kumbha Bharani Festival
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: K. C. VENUGOPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2619 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2018

## INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE STATUS TO KUMBHA BHARANI FESTIVAL

## 2619.   SHRI K. C. VENUGOPAL:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the Government  has  received  any  proposal/application to seek Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) status from UNESCO for The Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani festival in Kerala;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has taken any measures in this regard; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR CULTURE & MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) &  (b) Yes  Madam,  a  proposal  was  received  in  the  year  2010  from  Shri  K.C. Venugopal, the then Hon'ble Member of Parliament (MP) & also from the Secretary, Sree Devi Vilasam Hindumathha Convention seeking to nominate the Chettikulangara Kumbha  Bharani  festival  in  Kerala    to  the  UNESCO's  Representative  List  of  the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
- (c) & (d) The Ministry of Culture agreed to the proposal and submitted the nomination dossier for Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani Kettukazhcha along with other nominations in the year 2011 to UNESCO for consideration in the 2012 Cycle. At that time UNESCO was accepting multiple nominations from every country. In due course the rules changed and UNESCO made it mandatory that every country can submit only one nomination with the result that the earlier submitted dossiers were put in a priority list  that  is  visited  every  year by the Ministry of Culture for re-prioritisation. At present, the priority list consists of 24 Intangible Cultural Heritage elements and Sowa Rigpa is the next element being considered for nomination in the 2019 cycle. The list of backlog elements is attached as Annexure .

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) & (d) of the Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No 2619 for 12.03.2018

## List  of  Backlog  files  submitted  to  UNESCO  for  inscription  in  the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

|   S.No. | Name of the Element                                                                                               |   Submitted for Cycle |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
|       1 | Dashavatar: traditional folk theatre form, Maharashtra and Goa, India (00338)                                     |                  2010 |
|       2 | Hingan: votive terracotta painted plaque of Molela, Rajasthan, India (00346)                                      |                  2010 |
|       3 | Lama dances of Sikkim: Buddhist monastic dances, Sikkim, India (00352)                                            |                  2010 |
|       4 | Nacha: folk theatre, Chhattisgarh, India (00344)                                                                  |                  2010 |
|       5 | Patola: double ikat silk textiles of Patan, Gujarat, India (00343)                                                |                  2010 |
|       6 | Phad: scroll paintings and their narration, Rajasthan, India (00342)                                              |                  2010 |
|       7 | Rathwa ni Gher: tribal dance of Rathwas, Gujarat, India (00348)                                                   |                  2010 |
|       8 | Sankheda nu lakh kam: lacquered turned wood furniture of Sankheda, Gujarat, India (00347)                         |                  2010 |
|       9 | Sattriya music, dance and theatre (00350)                                                                         |                  2010 |
|      10 | Shadow puppet theatre traditions (00351)                                                                          |                  2010 |
|      11 | The festival of Salhesh, Bihar, India (00339)                                                                     |                  2010 |
|      12 | Chaar Bayt, a Muslim tradition in lyrical oral poetry, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, India (00841) |                  2012 |
|      13 | Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani Kettukazhcha (00708)                                                               |                  2012 |
|      14 | Durga Puja In West Bengal (00703)                                                                                 |                  2012 |
|      15 | Gaddi Jatar (00705)                                                                                               |                  2012 |
|      16 | Jangam Gāyan (00702)                                                                                              |                  2012 |
|      17 | Kalamkari Paintings (00709)                                                                                       |                  2012 |
|      18 | Kolam, ritualistic threshold drawings and designs of Tamil Nadu, India (00842)                                    |                  2012 |
|      19 | Music and knowledge of the Veena stringed instrument (00844)                                                      |                  2012 |
|      20 | Nautanki (00699)                                                                                                  |                  2012 |
|      21 | Practice of turban tying in Rajasthan (00701)                                                                     |                  2012 |
|      22 | Qawwali (00698)                                                                                                   |                  2012 |
|      23 | Ranmāle (00706)                                                                                                   |                  2012 |
|      24 | Sowa-Rigpa, knowledge of healing or science of healing (01358)                                                    |                  2018 |