Lok Sabha Question No. 5098 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Schemes to Promote Culture of Various Communities
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Naba (Hira) Kumar Sarania

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5098 ANSWERED ON 03.04.2023

## SCHEMES TO PROMOTE CULTURE OF VARIOUS COMMUNITIES

## †5098. SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  schemes  being  implemented  to  promote the  culture  of  various  communities  of  the country;
- (b)  the  names  of  cultural  traditions  being  celebrated  by  various  communities  of  different States  and  the  time  of  their  celebration  and  the  State-wise  and  district-wise  details thereof;
- (c) the details of the various cultures adopted by the tribal people identified in various parts of the country, State-wise and district-wise;
- (d)  the names of the cultures of the tribals adopted/recognised by the Government;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  got  the  opportunity  to  present  the  tribal  culture  in  other cities of the country and abroad; and
- (f) whether the cultural troupes give this performance abroad to promote the culture of the country and if so, the names of the cultural troupes which have participated in foreign countries during the last five years and the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a) To protect, preserve and promote various forms of folk art and culture in the country, the Government of India has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur. These ZCCs organize various  cultural  activities  and  programmes  on  a  regular  basis  throughout  the  year  in  their member  States.  These  ZCCs  also  implement  a  number  of  schemes  viz.  Award  to  Young Talented Artists, Guru Shishya Parampara, Theatre Rejuvenation, Research and Documentation,  Shilpgram,  OCTAVE  and  National  Cultural  Exchange  Programme  for  the purpose.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government  of  India  is administrating a centrally sponsored scheme 'Support to Tribal Research Institutes' under which grants are given to the State  Tribal  Research  Institutes  (TRIs)  for  various  projects  including  preservation  and promotion of their art, culture, practices and traditions in following ways:

-  Research studies/publication of books/documentation including audio visual documentaries on promotion of rich tribal cultural heritage which includes preservation of tribal languages.
-  Tribal cultural exchange programmes.
-  Research and documentation of Indigenous practices by tribal healers and medicinal plants,  adivasi  languages,  agriculture  system,  dances  and  paintings,  organization  of literary  festivals,  publication  of  books  written  by  tribal  writers/authors,  translation works and literature competitions etc.
-  To acknowledge the heroic and patriotic deeds of unsung tribal heroes, the Ministry has  sanctioned  setting  up  of  Tribal  Freedom  Fighters  Museum  for  ten  States.  This Museum along with Ethnographic Tribal Museums will also showcase and preserve tribal artifacts related to life and culture of tribes.
-  Funding to States/UTs for organizing tribal festival at State level.
-  The Ethnographic Museums of the States preserve and showcase rare artifacts related to life and culture of various tribes.

(b) There are number of festivals, customs and cultural traditions celebrated in India by various  communities.  Hindus celebrate  Diwali, Holi and  Makar  Sakranti,  Muslims  observe Eid and Moharram. Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi (crop harvesting). Jains commemorate Mahavir Jayanti and Buddhists mark Buddha's birthday. Christmas and Good Friday are celebrated by Christians. Then there are festivals to honour saints, public figures and gurus. In addition to this, number of festivals like Onam, Pongal, Dushehra, Lohri, Durga Puja, Navratra, Ganesh Chaturthi, Maha Shivratri, Gurpurab, Chhath Pooja, Gudi Padwa, Kumbh Mela, Easter, Horn Bill, Gangaur, Lui-Ngai-Ni, Moatsu Mong, Teej etc. are also celebrated in various States/UTs of the country. Details of festivals and the months in which they are celebrated are given as under:-

## North India

| Festival                | Month     |
|-------------------------|-----------|
| Makar Sankranti         | January   |
| Baisakhi                | April     |
| Ladakh harvest festival | September |
| Lohri                   | January   |
| Basant Panchami         | January   |

## South India

| Festival   | Month   |
|------------|---------|
| Onam       | August  |
| Pongal     | January |
| Ugadi      | March   |
| Vishu      | April   |

## East & West India

| Festival             | Month             |
|----------------------|-------------------|
| Bhogali Bihu         | January           |
| Wangala              | November          |
| Ka Pomblang Nongkrem | November          |
| Nuakhai              | August            |
| Gudi Padwa           | March             |
| Nabanna              | November-December |

(c) & (d) The  main  cultural  traditions  of  the  tribals  are  singing,  dancing,  dressing, artistry, marrying, child-rearing socializing, worshiping, governing and working. Indian tribal dances  are  performed  to  get  pleasure  as  dancing  is  a  part  of  their  daily  life  and  religious rituals. Some prominent of folk dances of tribal people are as under:-

-  Bardo Chham: Religious folk dance in Arunachal Pradesh and is specially performed by a small community in West Kameng District. They believe that in every month of the year, there is some kind of evil power and the community members wear some animal masks & dance with the beating of drums.
-  Dumhal: This is a classical folk dance performed by men only and is originated by the Wattal tribe in Kashmir region. They wear colorful dresses with tall caps made with beads and shells and carry banners with some dance movements.
-  Chang  Lo:  Chang  Lo  is  also  known  as  Sua  Luaand.  It  is  a  dance  form  performed  by Chang  tribe  in  Poanglem.  It  is  one  of  the  biggest  annual  festivals  of  Chang  tribe  and people of this tribal community perform Chang Lo during this three day festival.
-  Cheraw  dance:  Tribal  communities  in  Mizoram  perform  this  dance  during  their  festive seasons.
-  Parvi Nach: This is a beautiful tribal dance form performed by Kokna tribal community in Maharashtra.
-  Dalkhai: Dussehra is one of the biggest Indian festivals and Dalkhai dance is performed during  this  festival  in  Odisha.  This  dance  is  performed  by  girls  and  many  musical instruments like Dhol, Nisan, Mahuri and Tamki are used during this dance.
-  Chhau Dance: A dance form with martial arts. This belongs to the State of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
-  Bamboo dance: Bamboo dance is performed by men and women of Mizoram.

(e)  & (f) Yes,  Sir.  In  order  to  make  the  world  aware  of  India's  rich  cultural  heritage, Ministry  of  Culture  implements  a  scheme  titled  'Global  Engagement  Scheme'  with  the objective of providing artists practicing  Indian art forms, an opportunity to perform abroad under the banner of 'Festival of India'. Under the scheme, artists from diverse cultural fields such as folk/ tribal art, music & dance, folk theatre, puppetry, classical and traditional dance, experimental/ contemporary dance, classical/ semi classical music, theatre etc. perform in the 'Festival  of  India'  abroad.  For  this  purpose,  the  Ministry  empanels  artists/groups  under various art forms which is a continuous process.  The artists are selected from the empanelled list for performing in the Festivals of India abroad.

Currently, there are 625 artists/groups empanelled by the Ministry, out of which 121 artists/groups are in the folk category.   The Ministry of Culture has organized Festivals of India  in  10  countries  during  the  last  five  years  in  which  61  cultural  groups  including  folk groups have participated in these festivals (list enclosed as Annexure ).

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## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (e) & (f) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5098 for 03.04.2023

## FESTIVAL OF INDIA HELD DURING 2018-19 TO 2022-23

## 2018-19

|   Sl. No. | Countries                  | Period                    | Events                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-----------|----------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Tunisia                    | July to Aug, 2018         |  9 members - folk music by Ms. K. S. Naagachandrika Bhat  4 members - Folk Fusion Band from Nagaland by Abiogenesis Mr Moa Subong  10 members - Kuchipudi Dance led by Ms. Meenu Thakur  15 members - Folk Music led by Melita Pinto e Gomes  2 Chefs to be deputed by ITDC - Food Festival (M/o Tourism)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|         2 | Russia                     | Sept, 2018 to March, 2019 |  7-member Sufi Music Group led by G.C.D. Bharti  11-member Bharatnatyam group led by Jayalakshmi Eshwar  9-member Kathak Dance Group led by Maulik Shah  3-member Instrumental Group led by Dr. M. Narmadha  11-member Odissi Dance Group led by Ms. Geeta Mahalik  5-member Fusion Music Group by Greeshma Prasad and group  2-member team for Exhibition on Buddha by Benoy K Behel  4-member team for Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi (Visual Quest India by Birad Rajaram Yagnik)  4-member Santoor Group led by Dr. Bipul Kumar Ray  2 Chefs for the Food Festival (M/o Tourism) |
|         3 | Switzerland& Liechtenstein | Sept-Dec, 2018            |  12-member Bharatnatyam Dance Group led by Smt. G.Kalaivani Rajmohan  15-member Lokrang group by West Zone Cultural Centre (WZCC), Udaipur  9-member Kathak Group led by Smt. Anu Sinha  5-member Dhrupad Vocal Group led by Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar  7-member Kathakali Dance group led by Kalamandalam Gopalakrishnan  Digital Exhibition related to Mahatma Gandhi on 2.10.2018  2-Chefs for Food Festival                                                                                                                                                                          |
|         4 | Croatia (Phase I)          | 24 Feb to 30 March, 2019  |  7-members - Instrumental Music (Taalvadya Kacheri) by Peravali Jaya Bhaskar Group  6-members - Experimental Dance By Rachana Yadav Khanna Group                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |

|   5. | Qatar              | Feb-Sept, 2019           |  12 - members - Contemporary Dance by Disha Creative Dance Group led by Ms. Basu Sharma  5 - members - Instrumental Music Jugalbandi by Anuradha Pal group  11 members - Odissi Dance by Rina Jana group  15 -member Kalbelia Dance Group of Girdhar Kala Sansthan led by Girdhari Lal Dangi  8-member Kathak Dance Group led by Rani Khanam  14 -member North-East Dance Group 'Amrapali Repertory' led by Pranaame Bhagwati                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|------|--------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    6 | Nepal              | 19 Feb to 22 March, 2019 |  12-members - Contemporary Dance by Sumit Roy and group  8-member Instrumental Music (Mridangam) group led by Pandit Prof Yella Venkateshwara Rao (Padmashri)  15-member Punjabi Folk Dance Group by North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala  15-member Theatre Group (Dance and Drama) by Su-Samannaya of Gopal Datta  7-members - Kathakali Dance by Dr. Haripriya Nambudiri group  15-members - Maithili Song and Dance by Prangan Group organised by Eastern Zone Cultural Centre, Kolkata  10-members - Seminar 'Sanskrit: a common treasure for India and Nepal' by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi  Photo Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi  Inter-School Speeches/debate competitions on Mahatma Gandhi by the Indian Mission |
|    7 | Colombia & Ecuador | March- October, 2019     |  1-member Bharatnatyam Dance group led by Ms. Anwesha Das (Solo)  11-Members - Kathak Dance led by Ms. Nalini & Kamalini group  14-member Odissi Dance group led by Ms. Vani Madhav  Seminar on Gandhi Ji's teachings for Colombia in collaboration with leading local universities organized by the Indian Mission  Food Festival  Exhibition of photographs, Paintings, book by NGM/GSDS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

2019-20

|   Sl. No. | Countries    | Period              | Events                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|-----------|--------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | South Africa | 22 to 28 Sept, 2019 |  14- member group Natya Katha 'Kasturba' led by Dr. Sonal Mansingh  25-members - Bharatnatyam Dance Drama 'Shanti Sutra' by Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai  8-member group Contemporary Indian Music by Shri Shreyas Abhas  4-artists - Light Classical Music (Vocal) by Ms. Sunanda Sharma Group |

|   2. | FoI Croatia (Second Phase)   | 23 Sept to 16 Oct, 2019   |  8-members - Manipuri Folk Dance led by L. Ibomcha S  6-member Mohiniyattam Dance group led by Ms. Bharati Shivaji  Workshop on 150 th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in collaboration with Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|------|------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    3 | FoI in Mexico                | 28 Nov to 10 Dec, 2019    |  8-members - Experimental/Contemporary Dance by Ms. Tanushri Roy Group  8-members - Kuchipudi Dance (amalgamation of different dance forms) by Ms. T. Reddy group  3-members - Hindustani Instrumental (Santoor) by Vibration group of Dr. Varsha Agarwal  5-members - Kathak Dance (Solo) by Ms. V. Anuradha Singh  10-members - Folk Dance and Music (Rajasthan) by Gazi Khan Barna Group organized by WZCC, Udaipur  Food Festival by Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture |

-  2020-21 No festival held due to COVID-19 Pandemic
-  2021-22 No festival held due to COVID-19 Pandemic

## 2022-23

|   Sl. No. | Countries   | Period               | Events                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|-----------|-------------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Kuwait      | 17 to 18 March, 2023 |  10-member Sufi group led by Shri Haji Mohammad Idris  12-member folk/Rajasthani group led by Shri Hasan Khan  13-member Fusion Dance group led by Shri Anirudh Varma Collective Group |

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