3 popular practices of state make it to Centre’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list
Bhubaneswar: Three popular cultural practices of the state have been included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage list published by the ministry of culture. The practices include Manabasa Gurubara, Ravanachhaya puppet and Chhau dance.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel for including these traditional practices in the list of intangible cultural heritage of India.
The Manabasa Gurubara ritual is performed on every Thursday of Margashira (November-December) in the honour of Goddess Laxmi in Odisha. Laxmipurana, written by 16th century poet Balaram Das, is read on the occasion. It narrates a story glorifying the place of women in every respect as central to the peace, progress and happiness of the family and denouncing evil practices such as untouchability, the central list described.
Similarly, Ravanachhaya is one of the six shadow puppet theatre traditions across different regions of India. The narratives are based on the epics of Ramayan and Mahabharat, Puranas, local myths and tales. They communicate significant messages to the rural community besides entertainment, it added.
Finally, Chhau is a major dance tradition of eastern India. It has three distinct styles Sareikela, Mayurbhanj and Purulia. Chhau dance has a significant role in the celebration of the spring festival, Chaitra Parva, being innately connected to its rituals, the list pointed out.
Altogether 106 traditional items in five broad categories such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, knowledge and practices related to nature and traditional craftsmanship have been included in the list.
The Unesco has already recognized 13 Intangible Cultural Heritages of India. “This initiative is a part of the ministry’s Vision 2024 programme. In the list released on the ministry’s website, a total of 106 practices from different states are mentioned, though some are repeated as they occur in more than one state and five elements are common to the entire country,” said Union culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel in an official release.
-
Download
-
Subscribe
Start Your Daily Mornings with Times of India Newspaper! Order Now