In News

• Under the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ list of UNESCO, the Durga Puja festival of Kolkata has been added.
• India now has a total of 14 events that represent the country’s tradition and culture in it.

About Durga Puja

• Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a
  thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers.
• The festival is characterised by large-scale installations and pavilions in urban areas, as well as traditional Bengali drumming and veneration of the goddess.
• During the Durga Puja festival, the divides of “class, religion and ethnicities collapse” as spectators roam around to view the installations - commonly known as ‘pandals’ or ‘mandaps’.

Intangible cultural heritage

 Intangible cultural heritage (“ICH”) refers to the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and know-how, transmitted from generation to generation within communities, created and transformed continuously by them, depending on the environment and their interaction with nature and history.