**Policy Summary: Ministry of Culture Initiatives for Preservation and Promotion of Indian Art and Cultural Heritage**
The Ministry of Culture is actively engaged in preserving, digitizing, and promoting Indian art, monuments, and cultural traditions globally through various initiatives. The Global Engagement Scheme promotes Indian Folk Arts and Cultural traditions abroad by organizing Festivals of India in other countries, showcasing exhibitions, dance, music, theatre, food festivals, film festivals, and yoga events. Artists empanelled with the Ministry of Culture are sponsored to perform in these festivals.
Grant-in-aid is provided to Indo-Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies to organize programs and activities, including folk art and other cultural activities, for their promotion in other countries. The Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) organizes festivals nationwide, provides grants-in-aid for research, documentation, and publishing in the performing arts, and supports seminars and conferences. The SNA also documents and records performing arts for its audiovisual archive.
The SNA launched the Kutiyattam Project in 1990-91 to preserve and promote Sanskrit theatre in Kerala, providing support to institutions and artists through funding, training, and maintenance. The Kutiyattam Kendra in Thiruvananthapuram was established to further support this classical Sanskrit theatre. The SNA also supports artists of Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Theyyam, and other Kerala art forms through its various schemes.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), also under the Ministry of Culture, undertakes conservation and maintenance work of protected monuments.
This information was provided by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Contact: Sunil Kumar Tiwari, pibcultureatgmaildotcom
Release ID: 2150695
Date: July 31, 2025
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Culture: The Indian government ministry responsible for preserving and promoting Indian art, monuments, and cultural traditions.
Global Engagement Scheme: A Ministry of Culture initiative to promote Indian Folk Arts and Cultural traditions abroad.
Festivals of India: Events organized in other countries showcasing Indian folk art and cultural events under the Global Engagement Scheme.
Sangeet Natak Akademi: An academy under the Ministry of Culture that organizes festivals, provides grants for research and documentation in the performing arts, and maintains an audiovisual archive.
Kutiyattam Project: An SNA launched project in 1990-91 to preserve and promote Sanskrit theatre of India sustained in Kerala.
Kutiyattam Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: A center set up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to support the classical Sanskrit theatre form of Kutiyattam.
Archaeological Survey of India: An organization under the Ministry of Culture responsible for the conservation and maintenance of protected monuments.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: The Union Minister for Culture and Tourism who provided information in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Ministry of Culture
Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Heritage
Posted On: 31 JUL 2025 4:05PM by PIB Delhi
Ministry of Culture is actively engaged in preserving, digitizing, and globally promoting Indian art,
monuments, and cultural traditions through various initiatives.
Ministry of Culture promotes Indian Folk Arts and Cultural traditions abroad through the Global Engagement
Scheme. Festivals of India are organized under this scheme in other countries showcasing folk art and other
cultural events as exhibitions, dance, music, theatre, food fest, film fest, yoga etc. The artists empanelled with
the Ministry of Culture are sponsored to perform in Festival of India abroad. Also, Grant-in-aid to
Indo–Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies is released for organizing programmes and activities including
folk art and other cultural activities for their promotion in other countries.
Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), Ministry of Culture organizes festivals at all over the country, gives grants-
in-aid for research, documentation, and publishing in the performing arts; organizes and subsidizes seminars
and conferences of subject specialists; documents and records the performing arts for its audio-visual archive.
The academy documents all its events in the form of audio/video and photographs, and all this material is kept
safe in the academy's archives.
In its bid to preserve and promote the lingering vestige of Sanskrit theatre of India sustained in Kerala, SNA
launched a Kutiyattam Project in 1990-91. The Project provided regular support to the handful institutions and
artists existing in the field, by way of funding training and regular performances, maintenance etc.
The Kutiyattam Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram, is a logical development of Akademi’s project in support of
Kutiyattam. It has been set up as a ‘Centre for Kutiyattam’ meant to provide support to the entire field of this
classical Sanskrit theatre.
The SNA continues to invite artists of Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Theyyam, and other forms of Kerala to
present at its various Festival and provides assistance for the promotion and preservation of all these art forms
under its various schemes.
As far as protection and promotion of heritage sites is concerned, Archaeological Survey of lndia (ASI),
Ministry of Culture takes up conservation and maintenance work of protected monuments.
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: 2150695)