Yoga, one of India's ancient practices, has received another international recognition. It has now been inscribed as an element in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity during the 11th session of the intergovernmental committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Officials of the union culture ministry said that during this session, India’s proposal for inscribing Yoga as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” was unanimously supported by all the 24 members of the intergovernmental committee.
"Huge achievement for India. #YOGA as an element has been inscribed in the @UNESCO list of Intangible #CulturalHeritage of the World. “All 24 Member Countries of IGC supported and it was a unanimous decision," union culture minister Mahesh Sharma tweeted.
Yoga has become the 13th intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far with UNESCO. Previous ones includes the Chhau dance (inscribed in 2010), the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (inscribed in 2012), Sankirtana – the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur (inscribed in 2013), the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru of Punjab (inscribed in 2014) and Ramlila - the traditional performance of the Ramayana (inscribed in 2008).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played a key role in having the United Nations declare June 21st as the International Yoga Day in 2014. The government of India has been taking forward the momentum created by the celebration of International Yoga Day in 2015 and 2016 with greater and more active participation of youth and other stakeholders of the community. The government has continuously been promoting Yoga as a human treasure and a key to noble health.
The delegation from India that attended the Intergovernmental Committee Meeting was led by the permanent representative of India to UNESCO - Ruchira Kamboj and M L Srivastava, a senior official of the ministry of Culture.