**Policy Summary: Preservation and Documentation of Endangered Folk Languages and Oral Traditions**
The Ministry of Culture is actively engaged in protecting, promoting, and preserving folk art and culture throughout India. This is primarily achieved through seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) located in Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur, and Thanjavur. These ZCCs conduct regular cultural activities and document vanishing art forms, folklores, oral traditions, and practices using audio, video, and written materials, with ongoing digitization efforts.
A key initiative is the Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme, which facilitates the transmission of traditional knowledge from masters to young disciples. To date, 42 oral traditions have been documented across various states and union territories, including Rajasthan (17), West Bengal (9), Odisha (3), Punjab (2), Maharashtra (2), Gujarat (2), Bihar (1), Jharkhand (1), Manipur (1), Uttar Pradesh (1), Haryana (1), Goa (1), and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (1).
The ZCCs collaborate with NGOs, universities, research scholars, and cultural organizations to enhance documentation efforts, emphasizing community participation and academic rigor. The Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), under the Ministry of Culture, maintains the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), which includes audiovisual documentation and digitization. The whistled language of Meghalaya was recently added to the National Inventory of ICH.
The SNA's library serves as a multilingual reference resource for students, researchers, scholars, and performers. It has digitized thousands of newspaper clippings, rare journals, and 326 rare books/manuscripts. The Akademi has also established a repository of artists, scholars, critics, writers, and art historians to update its database and improve connectivity with the artist community.
This information was provided by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. For further information, contact Sunil Kumar Tiwari at pibcultureatgmaildotcom. Release ID: 2159088.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Culture: The Indian government ministry responsible for preservation and promotion of art and culture.
Zonal Cultural Centres: Seven regional cultural centers established by the Government of India to promote folk art and culture.
Patiala, Punjab: City in Punjab, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Nagpur, Maharashtra: City in Maharashtra, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Udaipur, Rajasthan: City in Rajasthan, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: City in Uttar Pradesh, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Kolkata, West Bengal: City in West Bengal, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Dimapur, Nagaland: City in Nagaland, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu: City in Tamil Nadu, India; one of the headquarters of Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme: An initiative run by ZCCs where traditional masters train young disciples to ensure continuity of cultural knowledge.
Sangeet Natak Akademi: National academy of music, dance and drama in India, responsible for maintaining the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: A record maintained by Sangeet Natak Akademi involving the audiovisual documentation and digitization of intangible cultural heritage elements.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Union Minister for Culture and Tourism who provided the information in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha: The Upper House of the Parliament of India, where the information was provided.
Meghalaya: A state in Northeast India where whistled language has been added to the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).
Ministry of Culture
Preservation and Documentation of Endangered Folk
Languages and Oral Traditions
Posted On: 21 AUG 2025 4:11PM by PIB Delhi
To protect, promote and preserve various forms of folk art & culture throughout the country, the Government
of India has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur,
Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur. These ZCCs organize various cultural activities and programmes
on regular basis in their member States.
These ZCCs also undertake documentation of vanishing art forms, folklores, oral traditions and practices in
the form of audio, video and written materials. Documentation and digitization are ongoing processes.
Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme run by ZCCs is one such initiative where traditional masters train young
disciples to ensure continuity of cultural knowledge which helps artistes, researchers and community bearers
of traditions.
42 oral traditions have been documented viz. Rajasthan (17), West Bengal (9), Odisha (3), Punjab (2),
Maharashtra (2), Gujarat (2), Bihar (1), Jharkhand (1), Manipur (1), Uttar Pradesh (1), Haryana (1), Goa (1)
and UT of Jammu & Kashmir (1).
All the ZCCs regularly collaborate with NGOs, Universities, Research Scholars and Cultural Organizations to
document traditional art forms and oral traditions. These collaborations focus on community participation and
academic support for accurate recording and preservation of intangible heritage.
Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) under Ministry of Culture maintains the National Inventory of Intangible
Cultural Heritage (ICH) which involves the audio-visual documentation and digitization of the ICH elements.
Whistled language of Meghalaya has been added to the National Inventory of ICH which include
documentation and digitization.
The library of Sangeet Natak Akademi is a multilingual reference library extensively used by the students,
researchers, scholars and performers in the field of performing arts. The library has digitized thousands of
newspaper clippings, in addition to rare journals, alongwith 326 rare books/manuscripts.
The Akademi has created a repository of artists/scholars/critics/writers/art historians etc. of performing arts
for updating database and for better & direct connection with the artist community.
This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a
written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
****
Sunil Kumar Tiwari
pibculture[at]gmail[dot]com
(Release ID: 2159088)