The Government of India successfully hosted the 20th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) from 8 to 13 December 2025 in New Delhi. The session was held at the historic Red Fort (Lal Qila), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, symbolising a meaningful convergence of India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
This occasion marked a historic milestone, as India hosted the Intergovernmental Committee session for the first time, reflecting the country’s growing leadership in global cultural heritage governance. The session was chaired by H.E. Vishal V. Sharma, Permanent Delegate of India to UNESCO. Significantly, the event coincided with the twentieth anniversary of India’s ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2005), reaffirming India’s sustained commitment to the protection and promotion of living traditions.
UNESCO defines intangible cultural heritage as the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, artefacts, and cultural spaces that communities, groups, and individuals recognise as part of their cultural identity. Transmitted from generation to generation, this living heritage continuously evolves, fostering cultural identity, social cohesion, and respect for cultural diversity.
Historical Background of the 2003 Convention
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted by UNESCO on 17 October 2003 during its 32nd General Conference in Paris, in response to increasing global concerns that living cultural traditions were under threat due to rapid globalisation, social transformation, and diminishing community resources.
The Convention placed communities, groups, and individual practitioners, particularly indigenous and traditional communities, at the centre of safeguarding efforts, recognising their vital role in creating, sustaining, and transmitting intangible cultural heritage. It highlighted the intrinsic link between tangible and intangible heritage, promoted intergenerational transmission, and encouraged international cooperation.
Through this Convention, UNESCO established structured mechanisms for global collaboration, including international assistance, operational directives, and UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, overseen by the Intergovernmental Committee. The Convention’s core objectives are to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, ensure respect for the heritage of communities and individuals, raise awareness of its significance, and strengthen international cooperation and assistance.
Functions of the Intergovernmental Committee
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage serves as the principal body responsible for implementing the objectives of the 2003 Convention. It promotes best practices in safeguarding, formulates policy guidance, and monitors effective implementation by States Parties.
The Committee oversees the utilisation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, examines periodic reports submitted by States Parties, evaluates nominations for inscription on UNESCO’s ICH Lists under Articles 16, 17, and 18, and considers requests for international assistance.
The 20th Session in New Delhi
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, along with its autonomous body, the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), served as the nodal agencies for hosting the 20th session. The choice of the Red Fort, a 17th-century architectural monument, added profound symbolic resonance by situating global deliberations on living heritage within a historic cultural setting.
By hosting the session, India presented its holistic safeguarding model integrating institutional frameworks, community participation, documentation, inventorying, and intergenerational transmission. The session encouraged enhanced international cooperation through collaborative nominations, joint safeguarding initiatives, technical exchanges, and capacity-building programmes. It also strengthened the relationship between heritage safeguarding and sustainable development, cultural diplomacy, and international cultural exchange.
India’s Intangible Cultural Heritage: A National and Global Asset
India’s intangible cultural heritage emerged during the session as a living national asset of immense social, economic, educational, and diplomatic significance. It preserves linguistic, ethnic, tribal, religious, and regional identities, fostering social cohesion within one of the world’s most culturally diverse societies.
Traditional crafts, performing arts, rituals, and festivals continue to provide livelihoods for artisans and practitioners, particularly in rural and marginalised communities. India’s heritage also embodies vast reservoirs of traditional knowledge, including ecological wisdom, oral histories, and indigenous craftsmanship, strengthening education, cultural literacy, and intergenerational continuity. Internationally, these living traditions enhance India’s cultural diplomacy and soft power.
India’s Contributions to Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage
Recognising the scale and diversity of its intangible heritage, India has developed robust institutional mechanisms for safeguarding. The Ministry of Culture has implemented the Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India, providing a coordinated national framework for preservation, promotion, and transmission.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi has complemented these efforts through capacity-building programmes, documentation initiatives, awareness campaigns, and expert consultations. The scheme supports documentation and inventory creation, preparation of UNESCO nomination dossiers, workshops, performances, dissemination activities, educational integration, and skill development aligned with the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework.
UNESCO-Inscribed Intangible Cultural Heritage of India
By 2025, fifteen Indian elements had been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. During the year of the 20th session, Diwali was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, marking a significant recognition of a living festival celebrated across regions and communities.
India’s inscriptions include classical and folk performing arts such as Kutiyattam and Chhau; sacred traditions including Vedic chanting and Buddhist chanting of Ladakh; community-based practices such as Ramlila, Ramman, and Sankirtana; and traditional knowledge systems like the metalcraft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru. Contemporary expressions such as Yoga, Durga Puja, and Garba, along with multinational inscriptions like Nowruz, reflect India’s evolving yet interconnected cultural identity.
Side Events and Cultural Engagements
Several significant side events enriched the proceedings of the 20th session. The Folkland International Centre for Folklore and Culture, in collaboration with the Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN) and with the support of Rag Virag Cultural and Educational Society, New Delhi, presented a Kathak dance performance led by eminent dancer Guru Punita Sharma, showcasing the vitality and continuity of India’s classical dance heritage.
Folkland also actively participated in the launch of the new edition of Heritage Alive: Basketry, during which Dr. V. Jayarajan, Chairman of Folkland, presented his scholarly article included in the volume. Folkland further exhibited exquisitely crafted screw pine baskets from Kerala, which received enthusiastic appreciation from international delegates, highlighting the aesthetic excellence and living continuity of Kerala’s basketry tradition.
Dr V. JAYARAJAN PRESENTING HIS ARTICLE ON " REVIVAL & PRESERVATION OF SCREW PINE BASKETRY TRADITION IN KERALA: A CASE STUDY OF FOLKLAND'S INITIATIVES "
OFFICIALLY RELEASING THE BOOK "BASKETRY - SHARING EXPERIENCE FROM THE FIELD"
Arirang Master Award Ceremony at India International Centre
Alongside the 20th Session of the UNESCO ICH Intergovernmental Committee, Culture Masters & Advocacy Alliance for Culture Masters (AACM), international culture organisations based in the Republic of Korea, with the support of the Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN) and Folkland International Centre for Folklore and Culture, organised a prestigious Arirang Master Award Ceremony at the India International Centre (IIC) Annexe, New Delhi, at 10:00 AM on 12 December 2025.
The ceremony was hosted jointly by Culture Masters and ICCN, and meticulously organised by Folkland International Centre for Folklore & the Advocacy Alliance for Culture Masters (AACM). The event brought together eminent dignitaries, cultural luminaries, international delegates, and connoisseurs of the arts to honour excellence in artistic practice and cultural stewardship.
The programme commenced with a solemn invocation, followed by a Welcome Address by Ms. Sigma G. Nath, Project Coordinator of Culture Masters. Dr. V. Jayarajan, Secretary-General of ICCN and Chairperson of the International Advisory Board (IAB), delivered the Presidential Address. The Chief Guest Address was presented by Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, who emphasised the responsibility of cultural institutions and artists in safeguarding living traditions.
In a distinguished address, Dr. SeongYong Park, President of Culture Masters and Chairperson of AACM, articulated the vision and global aspirations of the Arirang Master Award, preceding the formal conferment of the honour.
PRESENTING THE ARRIRANG MASTER AWARD TO PROF. DEEPTHI OMCHERY BALLA
📌 Highlights video of the Arirang Master Award ceremony.
The Arirang Master Award was conferred upon Prof. Deepti Omchery Bhalla in recognition of her exceptional, sustained, and transformative contributions to India’s classical performing arts. A top-graded artist of All India Radio and an ICCR-empanelled artist of international repute, Prof. Bhalla is the former Dean of the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi. With a career encompassing over a thousand performances worldwide, her artistic legacy includes seminal choreographic works such as AMSHI and the innovative Mohiniyattam–Kathak Jugalbandi. As a performer, pedagogue, scholar, and cultural ambassador, her influence on India’s artistic landscape and global classical arts discourse is profound and enduring.
The ceremony also featured felicitations by International Advisory Board members Mr. Huh Kwon, Mr. Eivind Falk, and Ms. Joanne Orr, celebrating Prof. Bhalla’s role in fostering intercultural dialogue. A specially curated dance presentation by her disciples, performed in heartfelt homage, added a deeply evocative dimension to the celebration. In her acceptance address, Prof. Bhalla expressed her gratitude with humility and reaffirmed her commitment to nurturing future generations of artists and scholars.
India’s hosting of the 20th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage marked a defining moment in global heritage discourse. The session successfully combined symbolic resonance with substantive leadership, demonstrating India’s readiness to share its safeguarding models, strengthen international cooperation, and contribute meaningfully to global cultural governance.
The Government of India, particularly the Ministry of Culture, deserves sincere appreciation for hosting the session in an exemplary and dignified manner. Warm congratulations are also due to the Sangeet Natak Akademi, whose dedicated efforts as the nodal agency ensured the smooth conduct, intellectual depth, and cultural dignity of the session.
Rooted in its people and expressed through languages, rituals, festivals, performing arts, and crafts, India’s living heritage continues to thrive. By hosting this landmark session and its associated cultural engagements, India reaffirmed its enduring commitment to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage for present and future generations.
Representing the Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN) and the Folkland International Centre for Folklore and Culture, the ceremony was attended by Dr. V. Jayarajan, Saranjini Jayarajan, Ms. Sigma G. Nath, and Mr. Rakesh S. R., whose presence underscored the strong institutional collaboration and shared commitment to the safeguarding and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.