Efforts will be made to seek UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) tag for Mysore Dasara, in view of its hoary past and the continuation of the tradition whose historicity has been documented by medieval travellers.
If successful, it will join the list of 10 other inscriptions from India, including the Vedic chanting, Ramleela and the chanting of the Buddhist hymns in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas, which has been accorded the ICH tag.
C.G. Betsurmath, Commissioner, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, told The Hindu that groundwork and preparation of a detailed description will be the first step in this direction and the work to seek the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage tag would be launched in due course.
The department has made sufficient headway in seeking the UNESCO world heritage site tag for the monuments and forts of the Deccan Sultanate, monuments of Srirangapatana island town as also the Belur and Halebid group of monuments depicting the Hoysala architecture under the series Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas.
“Consequent to our efforts, these three groups of monuments are in the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list. We will make similar efforts to present Mysore Dasara as an intangible cultural heritage,” said Mr. Betsurmath. We will consult experts in preparing the description to meet the UNESCO criteria to qualify for the submissions, he added.
The UNESCO describes ICH as practices or representations and expressions of communities recognised as part of their local heritage, which is also transmitted from generation to generation. This also includes rituals and festivities.
The objective is not only to create greater awareness of the cultural practices among the new generation but to ensure its conservation for posterity.
However, a similar attempt was made five years ago to seek the ICH tag for Mysore Dasara along with Yakshagana, Mahamastakabhisheka and the traditional practices of the tribals of B.R. Hills. But it did not make much headway though the initial effort of the department was in response to the Government of India directive to all States to prepare a list of cultural practices which could be submitted for nominations for inscription in the “Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage”.
Mr. Betsurmath said given India’s treasure trove of cultural practices and the threats being faced by some of them, inscription as an intangible cultural heritage will not only give the art and cultural form more exposure but will help revive it for posterity.
