UNESCO Declares Vedic Chanting an “Intangible Heritage of Humanity"

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UNESCO Declares Vedic Chanting an “Intangible Heritage of Humanity"

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http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rnov2003/11112003/r1111200311.html

 

PARIS, FRANCE, November 12, 2003: The oral tradition of Vedic chanting has been

declared an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. In a meeting of jury

members on November 7, 2003, at Paris, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General

of UNESCO, declared the chanting of Vedas in India an outstanding example of

heritage and form of cultural expressions. The proclamation says that in the age

of globalization and modernization when cultural diversity is under pressure,

the preservation of oral tradition of Vedic chanting, a unique cultural

heritage, has great significance.

The jury members included Dr. Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklore

and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution (United Nations), Mr. Juan

Goytisolo, Writer (Spain), Mr. Yoshikazu Hasegawa (Japan), Ms. Olive W.M. Lewin.

Pianist, ethnomusicologist, Director of the Jamaica Orchestra for Youth

(Jamaica).

The UNESCO declaration will bring international recognition to the excellence of

the Vedic chanting tradition of India, which has survived for centuries encoding

the wisdom contained in the Vedas through an extraordinary effort of

memorization and through elaborately worked out mnemonic methods. The purity and

fail-safe technique devised for Vedic chanting in the olden days led to access

to one of the ancient literatures of humanity in its entirety today.

The Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, took the initiative

to put up the candidature of the Vedic chanting to UNESCO. A presentation was

prepared by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. The Department has also

prepared a five-year action plan to safeguard, protect, promote and disseminate

the oral tradition of Vedas in terms of their uniqueness and distinctiveness,

encourage scholars and practitioners to preserve, revitalize and promote their

own branch of Vedic recitation as the custodians of their own traditions and

direct the efforts primarily to making the tradition survive in its own context.

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Sanskrit has Regained Popularity at Universities and Schools

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http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/november/67869.htm

 

MUMBAI, INDIA, November 4, 2003: The ancient language of Sanskrit has become

prevalent once again at schools and universities in the country. At Mumbai

University, this article says that the number of students registered for courses

at the University's Sanskrit department has gone up from 175 to 260 in the last

4 years. Dr. G.P. Mahulikar, head of the University's Sanskrit department says,

"I am amazed to see the kind of response from students. When I did my MA in

1975, there were around 10 students in the post-graduate class. Now, the number

of students is 30." The number of students studying Sanskrit as part of a

certificate or diploma program has also grown to full capacity. All age groups

seem to want to learn the language as it opens up doors to study ancient epics

and disciplines such as Ayurveda.

Dr. Kalplata Mahajan, a 56-year-old general practitioner says, "I learnt

Sanskrit in school but could not pursue it as I took up medicine in college."

Rajashri Barve, a Kathak dancer from Malad adds, "Since the language is also

becoming popular in schools, there is a demand for Sanskrit teachers. That is

another reason more students are learning the language." For Prasad Akolkar, a

Ayurveda practitioner, the language will help her in understanding ancient

Ayurveda.

The demand for learning Sanskrit has increased for three reasons; firstly it has

become popular as an optional language in schools and Sanskrit teachers are in

demand, secondly it is now offered as a course on the Civil Services examination

and students usually score well on the test, and thirdly as students attempt to

discover their roots by studying ancient Indian epics, the language of the

literature is Sanskrit.