Current Affairs - Art and Culture

The Bharatiya Kala Mahotsav, an 8-day cultural festival celebrating the rich traditions of Northeast India, concluded in Telangana, specifically in Secunderabad. The event featured over 300 artists and artisans from the eight northeastern states, offering a mix of traditional and modern crafts, art forms, and performances. With more than one lakh visitors attending the festival, the final day saw 20,000 attendees, and all participants were honoured with certificates. This festival served as a platform to showcase the vibrant culture of Northeast India to a wider audience.

The Banjara Virasat Museum, located in Pohardevi, Washim, Maharashtra, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister to showcase the Banjara community's rich heritage through 13 galleries. This museum honours the community's spiritual leaders, Sant Sevalal Maharaj and Sant Ramrao Maharaj. Notably, Sant Sevalal Maharaj's final resting place or Samadhi is also situated at Pohradevi in Maharashtra's Washim district, known as Banjara Kashi. This initiative highlights the government's efforts to preserve and promote India's diverse cultural heritage.

Assam has been granted Geographical Indication (GI) tags for eight traditional products, including distinctive rice beer variants deeply rooted in Bodo culture. The GI tags recognize the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge of the Bodo community. Products like Bodo Jou Gwran, with its high alcohol content and traditional brewing methods, have gained national and international recognition. This milestone preserves Assam's cultural identity and promotes its unique products, contributing to the state's economic growth and cultural preservation. The GI tags also safeguard the intellectual property rights of local artisans and brewers.

India successfully negotiated the return of 297 antiquities from the United States, bringing the total number of recovered artifacts since 2014 to 640. This achievement is a testament to India's efforts to preserve its cultural heritage, bolstered by the 2024 Cultural Property Agreement with the US aimed at combating illicit trafficking. The returned antiquities include notable pieces like a 12th-century Nataraja statue and 105 artifacts returned post-2023 visit. This development highlights the importance of international cooperation in protecting cultural treasures.

The Bharat Gaurav luxury tourist train was launched to promote cultural and spiritual tourism between India and Nepal. The train, part of the Bharat Nepal Maitri Yatra, covers important religious and cultural sites in both countries, including Ayodhya and Varanasi in India and Janakpur and Kathmandu in Nepal. This initiative, by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), aims to strengthen cultural ties and enhance the spiritual tourism experience between the two neighbouring countries.