UNESCO has recently inscribed Sankirtana: ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO for the year 2013.
Sankirtana: ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur encompasses an array of arts performed to mark religious occasions and various stages in the life of the Vaishnava people of the Manipur plains. Sankirtana practices centre on the temple, where performers narrate the lives and deeds of Krishna through song and dance.
UNESCO stated in its decision that the element Sankirtana satisfied all the criteria for the inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and further acknowledged that Sankirtana music and dance which is transmitted from generation to generation through formal and traditional education reinforce the social and spiritual cohesion among the Vaishnava communities of Manipur. The Sankirtana for its heritage assimilates the forms of durable beauty, making for cultural continuity and inviting into its fold new generations of Manipur’s Vaishnavas settled within and outside the State. The meaning Sankirtana carries lies in the spiritual Universe that it helps to create through aesthetic means, to which Manipuri Vaishnava turns both for succour and a sense of identity. It is a vibrant, living art form which has a unique organic relationship with people, not just within the community but even outside.
Inscription of Sankirtana on the Representative List will contribute to the visibility of Intangible Cultural Heritage of India to the World while encouraging intercultural dialogue and subsequently will promote respect for cultural diversity at all pervasive levels.
Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture had prepared the dossier and took the follow up action to ensure that the element submitted for inscription on the UNESCO’s Representative List is approved by the IGC for the safeguarding of Intangible Heritage.
This is the 10th element which has been so inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List and 25 more elements are awaiting inscription by the IGC as only one element is taken up every year for inscription.
Minister of Culture, Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch expressed the hope that in the years to come more elements of Indian Intangible Cultural Heritage would be so inscribed as India has the largest repository of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the world.
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