Unesco Representative List Of India Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity: Art & Culture for UPSC Exams

India - Chhau dance - Chhau dance is a tr adi tion fr om eas tern India that enacts episodes from epics including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, local folklore and abstract themes. Chhau dance is intimately connected to regional festivals, notably the spring festival Chaitra Parva. Its or igin is traceable to indigenous  forms  of  dance and  martial practices. Chhau is taught to male dancers from families of traditional artists or from local communities. The dance is performed at night in  an open space to traditional and folk melodies, played on the reed pipes mohuri and shehnai. The reverberating drumbeats of a variety of drums dominate the accompanying music ensemble. It binds together people from different social strata and ethnic background with  diverse social  practices, beliefs, professions and languages.

India - Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan : Kalbelia community’s were once professional snake handlers. Today, women in  flowing black skirts dance and swirl, replicating the movements of a serpent, while men  accompany  them  on  the  khanjari percussion instrument and the poongi, a woodwind instrument traditionally played to capture snakes. The dancers wear traditional tattoo designs, jewellery and garments richly embroidered with small mirrors and silver thread.Kalbelia songs  disseminate

mythological knowledge through stories, while special traditional dances are performed during  Holi ,  the  festival  of  colours . Transmitted from generation to generation, the  songs and dances form part of an oral tradition for  which not extsor training manuals exist. Song and dance are a matter of pride for the Kalbelia community.

India - Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala - Mudiyettu is a ritual dance drama from Kerala based on the mythological tale of a battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika. It is a community ritual in which the entire village participates. After the summer cr ops ha ve b een ha rvested, t he villagers reach the temple in the early morning on an appointed day. Mudiyettu performers purify themselves through fasting and prayer, then draw a huge image of goddess Kali, called as kalam, on the temple floor with coloured powders, wherein the spirit of the goddess is invoked. This prepares the ground for  the lively enactment to follow, in which the divine sage Narada importunes Shiva to contain the demon Darika, who is immune to defeat by mortals. Shiva instead commands that Darika will die at the hand of the goddess Kali. Mudiyettu is performed annually in

Bhagavati Kavus’ ,the  temples of the goddess, in different villages along the rivers Chalakkudy  Puzha , Periyar and Moov attupuzha .  Respons ibility  for  its transmission lies with the elders and senior per for mers ,  who  enga ge  t he  younger generation as apprentices during the course of  the performance. Mudiyettu serves as an important cultural site for transmission of traditional values, ethics, moral codes and aesthetic norms of the community to the next generation, thereby ensuring its continuity and relevance in present times.