India Highlights Its Rich Traditions at UNESCO’s 20th Cultural Heritage Meet

India hosts the 20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee 🔗 for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) from December 8 to 13, 2025, at the historic Red Fort in New Delhi. This is the first time India is holding this session, which is chaired by Vishal V. Sharma, India’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. The event also marks the twentieth anniversary of India ratifying the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The session aims to protect living cultural traditions that communities recognise as part of their identity. This includes practices, knowledge, expressions, objects, and spaces passed down through generations. Adopted on October 17, 2003, during UNESCO’s 32nd General Conference in Paris, the Convention addressed global concerns about cultural traditions, performing arts, rituals, craftsmanship, and knowledge systems that face threats from globalisation, social change, and limited resources. It highlights the importance of communities, indigenous groups, and individual practitioners in preserving heritage and encourages global cooperation and awareness among younger generations.

The Intergovernmental Committee works to advance the goals of the 2003 Convention and to ensure its effective implementation in member states. Their activities include promoting and monitoring the Convention's objectives, providing guidance on best practices, recommending safeguarding measures, mobilising resources for the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, drafting operational directives, examining state reports, evaluating nominations for UNESCO’s ICH lists, and granting international assistance.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar opened the session, describing traditions, languages, music, craftsmanship, and other forms of intangible heritage as the most democratic expressions of culture, owned by everyone and protected by many. He spoke to delegates from various countries, emphasising the need to preserve cultural heritage, strengthen it, and pass it on to future generations as part of the shared goal of peace and prosperity.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and Vishal V. Sharma attended the inaugural ceremony. The Red Fort, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, serves as a historic backdrop for this session, symbolising the meeting of India’s tangible and intangible heritage.

India is displaying thematic exhibits and cultural performances for the visiting delegates, showcasing the country's diverse heritage. The session highlights India’s national ICH safeguarding model, which blends institutional support, community participation, documentation, and national inventory efforts as a model of good practice. It also promotes international cooperation through joint nominations, safeguarding initiatives, capacity building, and technical exchanges.

The session seeks to bring global attention to India’s intangible heritage, including lesser-known traditions, local crafts, and regional festivals. It also encourages domestic efforts such as documentation, inventorying, nomination dossiers, and community engagement, particularly among youth. This platform for cultural diplomacy aims to showcase India’s soft power, cultural richness, diversity, and leadership in heritage preservation.

India’s intangible cultural heritage is seen as both a national and global asset, promoting social cohesion, pluralism, and identity while supporting livelihoods, crafts, education, and cultural transmission. The Ministry of Culture, through its Scheme for Safeguarding Intangible Heritage, along with the Sangeet Natak Akademi, is coordinating activities like documentation, inventorying, training, performances, exhibitions, and preparing UNESCO nomination dossiers.

So far, 15 Indian elements have been added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. These include performing arts like Kutiyattam and Chhau, rituals such as Vedic and Buddhist chanting, Ramlila, Ramman, Sankirtana, the Kalbelia dance, Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Durga Puja, Garba, and traditional craftsmanship like the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru. This session also reviews India’s recent nominations for Chhath Mahaparva and Diwali.

The current session reflects India’s dedication to safeguarding its living cultural traditions, promoting community participation, documentation, training, and international cooperation, positioning the country as a leader in global heritage preservation.

#UNESCOICH20 #IntangibleHeritage #RedFortDelhi #CulturalPreservation #IndiaUNESCO