Ministry of Culture through Sangeet Natak Akademi has been taking steps to ensure timely updation of National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) List that covers documentation, preservation of ICH element across the country.

Ministry of Culture implements several schemes throughout the country to preserve and promote rich cultural and heritage of India. Guru–Shishya Parampara scheme provide financial support for all genres of performing arts activities like dramatic groups, theatre groups, music ensembles, children theatre etc. and imparting training of artists by their respective Guru on regular basis in line with Guru–Shishya Parampara. The Ministry of Culture has established seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) to preserve and promote India's folk arts and culture across the country. These centers, with headquarters in Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur, and Thanjavur, work to protect, disseminate, and develop regional cultural diversity, involve youth, and document vanishing art forms.

As per UNESCO regulation one nomination is submitted in every two year cycle for including in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. For 2025-26 cycle, Deepawali has been nominated for including in ICH list. Chhath Mahaparv has been nominated for the cycle 2026-27.

There are 43 organizations under Ministry of Culture for promotion of cultural activities across the country. The details are placed at Annexure I. The Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) organizes various cultural programmes and initiatives, such as the "Guru Shishya Parampara" scheme, which includes traditional art forms from Odisha like Gotipua Dance and Paika akhada.

India currently has 15 elements inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity including Kumbh Mela from Uttar Pradesh in the year 2017. Chhatth Mahaparv has been nominated for the ICH List for the Year 2026-27. The details of these elements are placed at Annexure II.

Ministry of Tourism through its central sector schemes extends financial assistance to the State Governments/UT Administrations for development of Buddhist Tourism. The ‘Buddhist Circuit’ has been identified as one of the thematic circuits for development under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ministry of Culture undertakes conservation and preservation of various monuments including protected Buddhist Sites, under the Annual Conservation program.

Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India are included in UNESCO representative list of ICH.

This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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Sunil Kumar Tiwari

pibculture[at]gmail[dot]com

Annexure – I

LIST OF ATTACHED / SUBORDINATE OFFICES & AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZATIONS UNDER THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

S. No	Organization	S. No	Organization
1.	Archaeological Survey of India	23.	Lalit  Kala AKademi
2.	National Archives of India	24.	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies
3.	National Gallery of Modern Arts	25.	National Council of Science Museums
4.	National Museum	26.	Prime Ministers Museum & Library,
5.	National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property	27.	National School of  Drama
6.	Central Reference Library	28.	Indian Institute of Heritage
7.	National Library, Belvedere	29.	Nav Nalanda Mahavihara
8.	Anthropological Survey of India	30.	Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation
9.	National Monument Authority	31.	Rampur Raza Library
10.	Allahabad Museum	32.	Sangeet Natak Akademi
11.	Asiatic Society	33.	Sahitya Akademi
12.	Centre for Cultural Resources & Training,	34.	Salar Jung Museum
13.	Central Instt. Of Buddhist Studies	35.	Victoria Memorial Hall
14.	Central University Of Higher Tibetan Studies	36.	National Culture Fund
15.	Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies	37.	North Zone Cultural Centre,
16.	Delhi Public Library	38.	South Zone Cultural Centre,
17.	Gandhi Smiriti & Darshan Samiti	39.	South Central Zone Cultural Centre
18.	Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manava Sangrahalaya	40.	North East Zone Cultural Centre
19.	Indian Museum	41.	West Zone Cultural Centre
20.	Indira Gandhi National Centre For the Arts	42.	Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre
21.	Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library	43.	North Central Zone Cultural Centre
22.	Kalashetra Foundation

 

                                                                                                                                  Annexure – II

 

Indian ICH heritage inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the ICH of Humanity

S. No.	ICH Heritage	Year of Inscription	State/ Union Territory
1.	Tradition of Vedic chanting	2008	All states
2.	Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana	2008	All states
3.	Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre	2008	Kerela
4.	Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India	2009	Uttarakhand
5.	Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala	2010	Kerela
6.	Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan	2010	Rajasthan
7.	Chhau dance	2010	Eastern India (West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha)
8.	Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India	2012	UT of Ladakh, UT of Jammu & Kashmir
9.	Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur	2013	Manipur
10.	Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India	2014	Punjab
11.	Yoga	2016	All States
12.	Nawrouz, Novruz, Nowrouz, Nowrouz, Nawrouz, Nauryz, Nooruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nowruz, Navruz	2016	All states
13.	Kumbh Mela	2017	Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh
14.	Durga Puja in Kolkata	2021	West Bengal
15.	Garba of Gujarat	2023	Gujarat

 

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