Living Traditions are at the core of the ‘intangible heritage’ that permeates every walk of life in India – making it one of the most enigmatic progressive nations on earth. The innate train of wisdom extends across millennia in an unbroken chain of embedded phantom threads of woven oral practices, mantras, rituals, ceremonies, festivals, customs, cuisine and lived traditions bound in faith and fervour that co-exist in chaos and calm.
When the notion of ‘Museums’ was introduced in post-independent India, it was met with lukewarm interest and a high degree of scepticism. It was hard to justify the need for such an institution that largely seemed to stem from a Western construct.
The explorers and their proxies were on a journey of discovery after declaring themselves as ‘civilised’. The discovery of ‘other’ civilisations was often viewed through the prejudiced lens of the pagan. Anything devoid of a Judeo-Christian framework and aligned values was branded as pagan, savage, uncouth, uncivilised and primitive at its fundamental foundations. The systemic plunder and pillage of Western patronised discoveries were conveniently traded for commerce, influence, power and or idle amusement. The residual curios made it into cabinets of curiosity that became the building blocks of contemporary museums.
Stripped of context and curatorial rigours, the interpretive text seldom transgressed beyond the estimated provenance of the artefacts. Sensitivity to burial rights, rituals and human remains received scant regard, as was the disregard shown for sacred and the divine. Interestingly, cross-cultural links were seldom explored, as was intangible heritage, including oral traditions. Curatorial priorities and edits often were tantamount to deliberate and inadvertent censorships with no prevailing, well-researched standards of inclusion and or exclusion of what was deemed appropriate for public consumption. The pedestals of the pagan were derided and robbed of the voices that vibrated through the collective souls of the rightful custodians of lost and living civil societies, obtuse from the West.
Forgotten was the acknowledgement that even as Europe was emerging from the Dark Ages, it mirrored the same nomenclature upon advanced and sophisticated centuries-old cultures, which they were merely beginning to explore. India was no exception. It was a clichéd cacophony of contradictions peppered with snake charmers, idol-worshippers and half-clad ascetics.
Though repeatedly colonised for extended periods of time, what was remarkable was that every invasion was an infusion of the rich tapestry of culture that strengthened and solidified its fabric. One could call it not so much collateral damage, but more of a collaborative advancement. Each layered influence, though geopolitically abhorrent, added a distinct flavour to the socio-cultural canvas. It touched every walk of life in the sub-continent, ranging from cuisine, music, arts, literature, science, theology, philosophy, architecture, trade, traditions, language and liturgical practices. The blending and osmosis were never turbulent and were very rarely induced by force.
The gentle ebb and flow of influences ensured empathetic engagement. So resilient was the core and so deep its roots that it was never under any palpable threat. The sense and sensibilities of cultural integration ensured sustainability in the truest form. As the fabric gave strength to shaping the pleats of perseverance and persistence of distinctive identities, the motto of unity in diversity became the rallying rationale of the union of India – an amalgam of princely states, bound by geography and genuine belief in rising above differences to aspire for a better tomorrow.
India was added to a UNESCO list of intangible heritage that includes a handful of living and oral traditions, ironically, for the first time in 2008. While its acknowledgement moved at a snail’s pace from three to 15 over the years, its inclusion of koodiyattam, kumbh mela, garba, Durga puja, Buddhist chanting in Ladakh, Navroz, et al, remains woefully inadequate and essentially irrelevant to the ongoing centuries-old living traditions of the Indian sub-continent and diaspora. Not only is cultural continuity all-pervasive, but some of its practices (such as the maha kumbh) surpass records in terms of sheer numbers of humans congregating on the planet for collective cleansing at faith-based celestial events.
While there are studies and reports that address documentation, preservation and conservation of tangible heritage assets upwards of 100,000 structures, the intangible practices that often deify and venerate the inanimate get neglected in their symbiotic synthesis. A Central government Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage & Diverse Cultural Traditions of India during 2013-16 has added to the inventory of cultural practices from across the nation. AI-driven generation has a unique opportunity in preventing the evaporation and extinction of living traditions, reviving the future of the intangible past.