Lok Sabha Question No. 212 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: National Cultural Mapping
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Shri Dulu Mahato, Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai

## NATIONAL CULTURAL MAPPING

## *212 SHRI DULU MAHATO:

## SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) the present status of cultural mapping initiative nation wide under the Government schemes such as  National  Mission  on  Cultural  Mapping  (NMCM) including  the number  of  cultural  sites,  artists  and  traditional  practices  documented  so  far, State/UT-wise and district-wise especially for Andhra Pradesh and in Bhadrak and Balasore districts of Odisha;
- (b) whether any centralised national database or digital platform has been developed to integrate the data collected from States/UTs including Mewar region of Rajasthan, Zonal/Regional  Cultural  Centres  and  field  agencies  and  if  so,  the  details  of  its structure and accessibility;
- (c) the details of the financial assistance released under the said mission in the country, year and State/UT-wise especially district-wise in Andhra Pradesh;
- (d) the  details  of  Tribal  communities  covered  under  National  Mission  on  Cultural Mapping (NMCM) in Andhra Pradesh;
- (e) whether any capacity building programmes for marginalized artists are proposed under the said mission, if so, the details thereof;
- (f) the details of the steps taken to ensure accuracy, verification and regular updating of cultural mapping data; and
- (g) the  manner  in  which  this  mapping  exercise  is  being  used  for  policy  planning, delivery of grants and strengthening of cultural tourism circuits?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a) to (g) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NUMBER 212 FOR REPLY ON 15.12.2025

- (a) The Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) Portal, under the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM), undertakes village-level cultural mapping across the country. Out of 6,38,365 identified villages, 6,23,449 have been mapped, and their data is available on the MGMD Portal.

The Portal captures a wide range of cultural elements, including heritage sites, folk and traditional art forms, artists, oral traditions, beliefs, customs, historical significance, local landmarks, fairs and festivals, attire, ornaments, and cuisines. However, the MGMD data is maintained in a village-wise format and is not aggregated element-wise.

In  Odisha,  data  from  47,209  villages  has  been  uploaded  on  the  MGMD  Portal.  In Bhadrak district, data from 998 villages has been mapped, and in Balasore district, data from 2,798 villages have been covered under the initiative.

The  State/UT-wise  distribution  of  mapped  villages  is  placed  at  Annexure-I,  while  the district-wise details for Andhra Pradesh are provided at Annexure-II.

The  notable cultural sites, art forms, traditional practices, and prominent artists documented in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are placed at Annexure-III and Annexure-IV, respectively.

- (b) Under NMCM, the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) Portal has been developed as a centralized  digital  platform  to  integrate  and  present  cultural  data  collected  from  across Indian  villages,  including  the  Mewar  region  of  Rajasthan,  as  part  of  the  nationwide cultural mapping exercise. The information related to MGMD Portal is as per AnnexureV.
- (c) The  primary  focus  of  MGMD/NMCM  is  cultural  mapping  and  information  gathering. There is no provision for release of financial assistance to States/UTs under the Scheme.
- (d) The data on MGMD portal, a component of NMCM, is maintained village-wise and not community-wise.  However,  certain  tribal  communities  from  Andhra  Pradesh,  such  as Bagata, Konda Dora, Kondhu, Valmiki, Koya, KondaKammara, Konda Reddi, Kotia and Gadaba have been surveyed as part of the village-level cultural data.
- (e) NMCM undertakes village-level cultural mapping across the country. There is no such proposal for capacity building program for marginalized artists under this mission.
- (f) The  MGMD  is  a  comprehensive  and  interactive  digital  platform.  To  ensure  periodic updating of information, the portal enables local communities/villagers to submit cultural information  related  to  their  village  through  the  'Contribute'  tab.  Such  submissions  are made available on the portal after due validation and moderation.
- (g) The MGMD Programme leads to the strengthening of rural identity by creating authentic, village-level cultural profiles that recognize local traditions, practices and heritage assets. The availability of structured cultural data on a single national portal supports planning for cultural cluster development, heritage tourism, and the promotion of traditional skills.

.*****

## ANNEXURE - I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *212 FOR 15.12.2025

## STATE/UT-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF NUMBER OF VILLAGES UPLOADED ON MGMD PORTAL

| State/UT                                 |   Number of Uploaded Villages |
|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands              |                           176 |
| Andhra Pradesh                           |                         17142 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                        |                          4613 |
| Assam                                    |                         26074 |
| Bihar                                    |                         39563 |
| Chandigarh                               |                            12 |
| Chhattisgarh                             |                         19571 |
| Delhi                                    |                           252 |
| Goa                                      |                           431 |
| Gujarat                                  |                         19271 |
| Haryana                                  |                          7579 |
| Himachal Pradesh                         |                         18735 |
| Jammu &Kashmir                           |                          6926 |
| Jharkhand                                |                         29908 |
| Karnataka                                |                         29569 |
| Kerala                                   |                          1275 |
| Ladakh                                   |                           238 |
| Lakshadweep Islands                      |                            13 |
| Madhya Pradesh                           |                         56429 |
| Maharashtra                              |                         40042 |
| Manipur                                  |                           306 |
| Meghalaya                                |                          7012 |
| Mizoram                                  |                          1026 |
| Nagaland                                 |                          1498 |
| Odisha                                   |                         47209 |
| Puducherry                               |                           127 |
| Punjab                                   |                         12084 |
| Rajasthan                                |                         46696 |
| Sikkim                                   |                           464 |
| Tamil Nadu                               |                         19219 |
| Telangana                                |                          9824 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |                           107 |
| Tripura                                  |                           899 |
| Uttar Pradesh                            |                        103003 |
| Uttarakhand                              |                         15727 |
| West Bengal                              |                         40429 |

ANNEXURE - II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *212 FOR 15.12.2025

## DISTRICT-WISE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  NUMBER  OF  VILLAGES  OF  ANDHRA PRADESH UPLOADED ON MGMD PORTAL

| S. No.   | Covered Districts of Andhra Pradesh   |   Number of Villages UploadedonMGMD |
|----------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1.       | Anantapur                             |                                 976 |
| 2.       | Chittoor                              |                                1515 |
| 3.       | East Godavari                         |                                1341 |
| 4.       | Guntur                                |                                 752 |
| 5.       | Krishna                               |                                1023 |
| 6.       | Kurnool                               |                                 942 |
| 7.       | Prakasam                              |                                1108 |
| 8.       | SPSR Nellore                          |                                1215 |
| 9.       | Srikakulam                            |                                1875 |
| 10.      | Vishakhapatanam                       |                                3398 |
| 11.      | Vizanagaram                           |                                1561 |
| 12.      | West Godavari                         |                                 629 |
| 13.      | Y.S.R. Kadapa                         |                                 807 |
|          | Total                                 |                               17142 |

## ANNEXURE III

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *212 FOR 15.12.2025

## Some Mapped Cultural Sites - Andhra Pradesh

|   S. No. | Cultural Site                                        |
|----------|------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Lepakshi Veerabhadra Temple                          |
|        2 | Padmanabha Swami Temple                              |
|        3 | Buddhist Stupa in Amaravathi                         |
|        4 | Ancient Sri Ramalinga Sowdeswari Amman Temple        |
|        5 | Machilipatanam- a famous sea-port of Golkunda regime |
|        6 | Gandikota Fort, Peruru heritage village              |
|        7 | Orvakal Rock Garden                                  |
|        8 | Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy Temple         |
|        9 | Chaturmukha Brahmeswara Temple                       |

## Some Mapped Art Forms - Andhra Pradesh

|   S. No. | Art Form               |
|----------|------------------------|
|        1 | Kuchipudi dance        |
|        2 | Trigandham Kastha-Kala |
|        3 | Handloom Weaving       |
|        4 | Tholu Bommalata        |
|        5 | Dhimsa dance           |
|        6 | Burra Katha            |
|        7 | Bamboo Basket Making   |

## Some Mapped Prominent Artists - Andhra Pradesh

|   S. No. | Prominent Artists(Shri/Smt./Ms.)             |
|----------|----------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Vempati Chinna Satyam (Kuchipudi)            |
|        2 | Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry (Kuchipudi) |
|        3 | Dalavai Chalapathi Rao (Tholu Bommalata)     |
|        4 | Kshetrayya (Kuchipudi)                       |
|        5 | J. Gurappa Chetty (Kalamkari)                |
|        6 | Vedantam Rattaiah Sarma (Kuchipudi)          |
|        7 | Korada Narasimha Rao (Kuchipudi)             |

## ANNEXURE IV

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *212 FOR 15.12.2025

## Some Mapped Cultural Sites - Odisha (Bhadrak and Balasore districts)

|   S. No. | Cultural Site                                    |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Ma Raksha Kali Temple                            |
|        2 | Akhanda Lam Temple (Akhanda Jyoti of Lord Shiva) |
|        3 | Agarpada - Birthplace of Sri Harekrushna Mahatab |
|        4 | Lord Jagannath Temple, Bansada                   |
|        5 | Panchalingesvar Temple                           |
|        6 | Chandipur Sea Beach                              |
|        7 | Hara-Parvati Temple                              |

## Some Mapped Prominent Artists - Odisha (Bhadrak and Balasore districts)

|   S. No. | Prominent Artists(Shri/Smt./Ms.)   |
|----------|------------------------------------|
|        1 | Laxmikanta Mohapatra               |
|        2 | Gourahari Das                      |
|        3 | Gopal Chandra Panda                |
|        4 | Gokulananda Mahapatra              |
|        5 | Fakir Mohan Senapati               |
|        6 | Radhanath Ray                      |
|        7 | Asim Basu                          |

## Some Mapped Art Forms - Odisha (Bhadrak and Balasore districts)

|   S. No. | Art Form                  |
|----------|---------------------------|
|        1 | Pala Art Performance      |
|        2 | Matil Shilp Kala          |
|        3 | Sambalpuri Saree          |
|        4 | Dhokra Art                |
|        5 | Kalinga Saili Murtikala   |
|        6 | Pipli Applique Art        |
|        7 | Kumbhka Art               |
|        8 | Khandua Saree             |
|        9 | Baleshwari Jaukandhei     |
|       10 | Broom Making              |
|       11 | Sandstone &Marble Carving |

## ANNEXURE V

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *212 FOR 15.12.2025

## STRUCTURE OF MGMD PORTAL

MGMD Portal is available in  public  domain  and  can  be  accessed  at  https://mgmd.gov.in/. Data is organised as per state, district, block, panchayat, and village wise. A unique profile is created for each village, whereby respective cultural elements with images are documented under the following headings:

| i.    | Cultural Profile                   |
|-------|------------------------------------|
| ii.   | Heritage Places                    |
| iii.  | Fairs and Festivals                |
| iv.   | Traditional Art and Craft          |
| v.    | Traditional Food                   |
| vi.   | Traditional Dress                  |
| vii.  | Traditional Ornaments              |
| viii. | Beliefs and Customs                |
| ix.   | Famous Personalities               |
| x.    | Prominent Artists                  |
| xi.   | Geographic and Demographic Profile |
| xii.  | Developmental Profile              |

Additionally, culture of selected village and blocks is available in the form of vibrant videos under the 'Village Walkthroughs' tab.