IMPHAL, August 26: State Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today attended the felicitation function of the “Inscription of Sankritana in the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at Shri Shri Bijoy Govindajee Mandap, Sagolband, Imphal.
The function which also saw felicitation of 17 individuals who were actively involved in submitting the nomination of Sankirtana to UNESCO was organised by the State Art and Culture department.
Speaking at the function, the Chief Minister said we are indebted to our forefathers who had left such a rich cultural heritage for us.
People, especially the experts and gurus should work together to gain more recognition of our cultural richness throughout the world, he said.
Ibobi said the inscription of the Sankritana in the representative list of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity is no small feat.
The Sankirtana also helps in ensuring peaceful-co-existence and spreading peace in the land, he said.
Further in his speech, he said after the inscription of Sankirtana in the list, our duty towards safeguarding it has only grown bigger.
Sankirtana is the start and it should not be the end, he observed before expressing the need to include ‘Lai Haroaba’ in the list and to gain worldwide recognition of the cultural heritage of the different communities residing in the State.
It may be mentioned that the nomination for Sankirtana was submitted to UNESCO in 2009 and it was inscribed in the representative list of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2013.