The Hindu : New Delhi News : Carrying forward the rich Indian legacy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 04, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Carrying forward the rich Indian legacy

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Preservation methods: An illustration depicting a herbaceous plant whose highly toxic seeds are used to keep insects away from manuscript collections.

NEW DELHI: Starting this Tuesday, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) will be busy playing host to two major events this month -- “Conservation and Interface Material and Methods” and “Vedic Heritage Week”.

Aimed at creating an inventory of traditional materials, techniques and methods being employed in creating and conserving different forms of cultural heritage, the exhibition “Conservation and Interface Material and Methods” -- on from December 4 to 10 – is expected to generate an awareness and willingness to rediscover the importance of traditional conservation methods.

“Different materials and techniques were employed in different regions depending upon the climate of that region. These methods are now losing out to the modern methods, probably because of the gradual loss of knowledge about their use, being labour-oriented and their non-availability in ready-made form. Also, since these materials and methods have not been exploited economically, the number of persons practicing these are dwindling,” said Ramesh C. Gaur, librarian and head of Kalanidhi (IGNCA).

“Traditional materials and techniques, which were the outcome of the knowledge and experience of several generations, have preserved cultural heritage well for many centuries,” he adds.

Another interesting programme here which will be on from December 10 to 15 is aimed at highlighting the rare intangible heritage of a great cultural value existent in India for the past 5,000 years, but which is endangered now due to the onslaught of modern Western culture.

The Vedic Heritage Week will include a number of functions and events to shed light on Vedic literature, culture, philosophy and ritual.

Special lectures in Hindi and English will be delivered by scholars and professors of Vedic studies drawn from various educational institutions as well as of traditional learning.

Saving for posterity

“The entire programme is tailor-made to get the common public interested in the Vedic Heritage of India and towards the importance and the necessity to preserve it for posterity because it is the foundation rock and the ultimate source of our culture, philosophy art and literature,” said Raghurama Ayyar of IGNCA.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi