World famous Durga Puja of Bengal Included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list

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• The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has included  ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 16th session, held virtually from 13 to 18 December  2021.
• Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in September or October, most notably in Kolkata, in West Bengal of India, but also in other parts of India and amongst the Bengali diaspora. It marks the ten-day worship of the Hindu mother-goddess Durga from Mahalaya to Vijaya Dashami.

UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

•  Intangible culture includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.
• It is different from Tangible heritage which refers to historical monuments, archaeological sites etc which are important to a community or country. 

List of all Intangible Cultural Heritage from India 

Year of Inclusion             Intangible heritage 

• 2021:                     Durga Puja in Kolkata
• 2017:                     Kumbh Mela
• 2016:                     Nawrouz, Persian New Year
• 2016:                     Yoga
• 2014:                     Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India
• 2013:                     Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
• 2012:                     Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India
• 2010:                     Chhau dance
• 2010:                      Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
• 2010:                      Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
• 2009:                      Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India
• 2008:                      Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
• 2008:                      Tradition of Vedic chanting
• 2008:                       Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana

UNESCO (United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization)

• It is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences, and culture.
• It was founded on 16 November 1945.
• It’s Headquarters: Paris, France.