UNESCO on 30th Nov, added Yoga to its coveted list of intangible heritage, along with Cuba’s Rumba dance and Belgian beer to its coveted list of “intangible” heritage.
• The UN body also included Portuguese pottery and Ugandan traditional music in the list
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in India:
• Koodiyattam: Sanskrit Theatre, Kerala
• Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras, Jandiala Guru, Punjab (Inscribed in 2014)
• Ritual theatre Mudiyett of Kerala
• Sankirtana: Ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur (Inscribed in 2013)
• The Tradition of Vedic Chanting
• Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India (Inscribed in 2012)
• Ramlila: the Traditional Performance of the Ramayana (Inscribed in 2008)
• Chhau dance: a tradition from eastern India (Inscribed in 2010)
• Ramman: religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalaya
• Kalbelia: folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
• Yoga has now been inscribed in the UNESCO list during the 11th session in Ethiopia.
• India’s proposal for Yoga as an intangible heritage was unanimously supported by 24 members of the UNESCO committee.
• Yoga became the 13th intangible cultural heritage listed in India.
UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Aims at ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and awareness of significance.
• List was established in 2008.
• This was the year 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage took effect.