Intangible Cultural Heritage: Knowledge Classi

9Informatics Studies 9 (2), April - June, 2022

Intangible Cultural Heritage: Knowledge Classi-fication and ManagementGireesh Kumar T K and Anand Kumar Singh

Abstract

Culture builds up the identity of a society and it is a reflection of the intellectual wealth of a civilization. Cultural information is essential for assessing the social, spiritual, symbolic, aesthetic and educational values cherished in our interconnected world. Heritage exists to make the past part of our present and future. Cultural Heritage (CH) has to be preserved to understand the legacies of the past, the base on which we stand, and to bring unity among individuals and communities for peace and progress. CH is classified into tangible (touchable), movable, immovable and intangible (thinkable). Different forms of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) such as text, image, audio and are added to traditional ones using 2D and 3D scanning, 3D modeling and image processing, digital photography and videoing. Informatics tools make it possible to organize, preserve and transfer such knowledge transcending time and space. The knowledge associated with ICH needs to be classified by a rational standard for its effective management and access. We lack a standardized and reliable classification system for managing ICH stock. The classification of ICH information now completely depend on UNESCO’s five hierarchical divisions which is insufficient. A comprehensive classification system is essential for all countries to develop national ICH databases and to achieve feasibility and interoperability. The present study taking India as a sample examines the status of classification and attempts to develop an elaborate categorization of ICH for development of a classification system.

Keywords: Cultural Heritage, Conservation Practice, Capacity Building, Local Awareness, Community Participation

Introduction

Culture encompasses various dimensions of an individual or community, all aspects of their life; progressive and the best evolved or newly developed – which needs to be conserved and passed down to the next generation in man’s unfinished journey. It has social behaviors and norms to values, food, drinks, arts, technique, skills, language, etc. Hudelson, stated that culture is a shared set of (implicit and explicit) values, ideas, concepts, and rules of behavior that allow a social group to function and perpetuate itself (Hudelson 2004). Culture is a complex,

continuous, and ever-evolving image (process), and therefore proper measures should be taken to safeguard it. In other words, culture is something that an individual or community lives and performs, while their non-sustainable aspects gradually fade away (Lyman and Kahle 1998).

Heritage is an asset embedded with knowledge; a foundation structure on which an individual, community, society, or country stands and realizes how they have evolved or got structured and what they have to learn from the past, absorb, to move towards the future. It is a legacy left behind by the past

Informatics Studies. ISSN 2320 – 530x. Vol. 9, Issue 2Second Quarterly Issue. April - June 2022. P 9-24

10 Informatics Studies 9 (2), April - June, 2022

for future generations. The origin of the word ‘heritage’ is from the old French word ‘eritage’, ‘heriter,’ which means ‘to inherit,’ which later became more prevalent in English (Vecco 2010) and became heritage in both English and French. In India, Heritage is defined as Dharohara, a combination of two words, i. e., dharā- (‘the mother earth, Prithvī) and -ihara (endeavor of identity through time). The word also carries the meaning of ‘bearing’ and ‘preserving’ the earth’s surface (Singh and Rana 2019). So, the history, traditions, and qualities that a country or society has had for many years and are considered an essential part of its character need to be regarded as heritage. Heritage can be preserved by creating a cycle of understanding, valuing, caring, and enjoying (Thurley, 2005).

Cultural Heritage (CH) includes resources from which our cultural identity is formed, affecting individuals’ self-identity, self-esteem, and relationships with others (Buckland 2013). CH is the wealth of resources inherited by the present from past generations (UNESCO 2014), which is not limited to the particular individual or community but represents the whole community or country. Culture and Heritage are often used interchangeably, but these two are different concepts. Former deals with a racial, religious, or social group’s customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits. At the same time, the latter is something that is acquired from our predecessors and has historical importance. CH is not merely physical assets like historical buildings but covers cultures, languages, traditions, and the universe of knowledge that apply.

UNESCO classifies CH into two - tangible and intangible and the Tangible Cultural Heritage (TCH) is further categorized into movable (manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, etc. ) and immovable CH (archaeological sites, historical buildings, etc. ). The Cambridge dictionary describes Intangible as something that exists but cannot be

touched, exactly described, or given an exact value. Something difficult to describe, understand, or measure, like an individual’s personal experience. His learning and his belief all are intangible. For example, though we can write music notes, we can only feel music and it cannot be touched while the music is present. Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is something which is transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity (UNESCO, 2003).

Article 2 of UNESCO’s General Conference held in 2003 defined ‘ICH’ as practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, and the instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces associated in addition to that (UNESCO, 2009a). ICH helps individuals and communities to grow and evolve. But only those ICH should be safeguarded, which are consistent with human rights. William Logan defined ICH as ‘embodied in people rather than inanimate objects’ (Logan 2007). The connection between tangible and intangible heritage is where objects of heritage (tangible forms) are usually studied alongside the practices of heritage (intangible forms) (Idris et. al. , 2016). This practice initiates and creates ideas about our past, present, and future. Tangible and ICH are intertwined with each other. However, ICH is a very ‘fragile wealth,’ that’s why it must be preserved for its uniqueness and diversity because once lost, they are non-renewable (UNESCO, 2014).

Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage is a record of the development of a civilization. In cultural heritage, tangible and intangible assets are intertwined with each other. While studying one aspect, we can’t ignore the other. For example, while looking at an ancient shrine (tangible) from an architectural point of

Intangible Cultural Heritage: Knowledge Classification and Management


view, there must be an inclusion of why it was built in the first place, which will lead to intangible assets. That’s why experts from various fields like an archeologist, anthropologists, linguists, historians, engineers, and others need to come together and safeguard ICH.

Conservation is about extending the life of cultural heritage while strengthening the transmission of its significant heritage messages and values (UNESCO, 2009b). Physical structure as well as the cultural characteristics has to be retained without losing its values for the future generations. Conserving and archiving of ICH for future generation is very significant without losing its authenticity. When compared to tangible CH, ICH has for long been an ignored heritage and as a non-material, non-physical culture it is easy to be ignored or lost without

knowing the loss occurring especially when human migration happens. Stories, skills, practices, experiences etc. are often forgotten or not interpreted and disseminated accurately.

Ruchika Ranwa points out in her study that the Kalbeliyas (snake charmer and dance performers) of Rajasthan, India have gradually modified their stage dance performance within the community to attract the tourist (Ranwa 2021). Such adjustments lead to changes in it. Another best example is Theyyams of Kerala, which requires numerous natural colors, traditional drapery and many days to perform are loosing everything in it by their stage performance for tourists. All these can result in the degradation of art and loss of its unique qualities. A recent example of tourism is the renovation of the Jallianwala

Figure 1: The eyes of the boy from Kotococha tribe Amazon rainforest reflects the nostalgia of an almost extinct World. Wearing an Amazon Toucan, traditionally used only for the sacred dances and auicious moments, this boy is learning from the Shamans the traditional dances of the tribes culture, a knowledge which is only transmitted from the shaman to the few chosen by word of mouth. Copy Right: Gustavo Morejón.

Gireesh Kumar T K and Anand Kumar Singh


Bagh Memorial, inaugurated by Prime Minister of India in 2021. The gallery’s renovation with murals was not in conformity with what existed. It has destroyed the historical proof and authenticity of the memorial because the renovation hides the tragedy faced by martyrs, which was written all over the wall by bullets of General Dyer, and tourists visiting there cannot now relate things to what happened there. Over time it will become just a picnic spot, and we will totally lose a very fragile ICH, which is a proof and authority for the statements in history. Hence the conservation projects need to give priority to maintaining the heritage in an unchanged condition by retaining its ‘dynamism’. Reflection on ICH therefore cannot be neglected. Conservation, preservation and documentation are the major activities, which protect the cultural assets of a country and retain its culture, pride, and traditions. GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) play a major role in the transmission of ICH as they hold the repository, which can be utilized to build the future. The ultimate purpose of preservation and documentation is to make the resources publicly available. Initiatives to Promote Preservation of Cultural Heritage UNESCO supports the Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation to help Indian cities in safeguarding and using heritage resources for sustainable urban development through policy directives, capacity building, exchange programs, and technical assistance for various heritage-based planning and developmental activities. Heritage Commission of Saudi Arabia recently launched a questionnaire in the Kingdom to take an inventory of its efforts in preserving and safeguarding ICH and to highlight the general situation (Saudi Gazette, 2022). The study of Bingan indicate that in China though it has made a remarkable progress in the rescue and preservation of ICH, the ignorance of the effective protection of cultural heritage by digitalization still exists (Bingan, 2007).

Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India (GoI) , has initiated Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana (KSVY), an umbrella scheme for promoting art and culture in the country. Under this scheme, the ministry provides under different schemes like the following; financial aid to various institutions and organizations to promote art and culture. Scheme of Financial Assistance for Promotion of Art and Culture: it provides a) Award of Senior/ Junior Fellowship to Outstanding Artists in the field of Culture, b) Award of Scholarship to a young artist in different cultural fields, and c) Tagore National Fellowship for Cultural Research Component.

Scheme of Financial Assistance for Creation of Cultural Infrastructure: The objective of this scheme sub-component is to provide financial assistance for the creation of assets for enhancing the audio-visual spectacle for allied cultural activities to give first-hand experience of live performances regularly and during festivals in open/closed areas/spaces where large numbers of tourists/visitors come regularly and during primary events/festivals the number of visitors swells to lakhs.

Financial Assistance for Building Grants, Including Studio Theatres: it provides financial support to organize cultural events related to performing arts, constructing infrastructure facilities for the same like building, studio, theatres etc and allied activities.

Financial Assistance for Allied Cultural Activities) and Financial Assistance for Tagore Cultural Complexes (TCC)

Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage: The MoC has formulated a Scheme titled ‘Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India’ to reinvigorate and revitalize various institutions, groups, individuals identified non-MOC institutions, non-government organizations, researchers and scholars so that they may engage in activities/ projects for strengthening,



protecting, preserving and promoting the rich ICH of India.

Apart from the above initiative, GoI has also launched the ‘Global Engagement Scheme,’ previously named– ‘Scheme for Promotion of International Cultural Relations,’ to provide artists practicing Indian art forms an opportunity to perform abroad under the banner of the ‘festival of India’ to promote India’s rich cultural heritage and enhance India’s image in the global arena in a concerted manner under following categories: Dance (Classical, folk, contemporary, etc. ), Music (Vocal, Instrumental, Sufi, classical, semi-classical, Carnatic, etc. ), Theatre, Folk Arts including Mehendi artists, puppetry, etc. , Food festival, Yoga, Literary festival (from Sahitya Akademi). Institutions of the MoC such as the Academies, namely Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), Kalakshetra Foundation (KF), Indira Gandhi National Centre for the

Arts (IGNCA), National School of Drama (NSD), Sahitya Akademi (SA) and Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) are also engaged in the work of preserving and promoting the traditional cultural heritage of India.

Technology Implementations: Cultural heritage domain is enriched with digital innovations and cultural heritage institutions are embracing the digital facilities and so lu t ions. Recent technolog ica l developments enable organizations to reach a broad spectrum of people with different backg rounds and to f ac i l i t a t e contextualization of cultural heritage artifacts in an unprecedented way, thus opening up new horizons in experiencing cultural heritage (Stiller and Petras, 2015). 3D technology is being implemented to give virtual heritage tours like Jantar Mantar of Jaipur (Janthar Mantar, 2022) and Gandhi Theerth of Jalgaon (GRF, 2022). Virtual recreation of monuments, forts, and shrines (tangible) can be made more interactive by integrating various ICH in them. Instead of

Figure 2: The first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who conquered and unified China was sent to his Mausoleum accompanied by a terracotta army of 8000 warriors, horses and chariots over 2000 years ago. Their faces look live and these sculptures reveal the excellent craftsmanship and skill of the artisans of the time.



only having a virtual tour of the cultural heritage, people can explore vertiically and horizontally from an exhibit and also learn about the intangible cultural heritage these items embed. In the era of semantic web and artificial intelligence, where ontology is a trend, it can be applied to the ICH. Suitable ontology framework that fit for the metadata need to be conceptualized to represent and access both tangible and intangible cultural heritage items (Gireesh and Raman, 2021). In this context, we have to note CIDOC-CRM (Comité International pour la Documentation - Conceptual Reference Model), an ontology-based virtual research environment for managing primary research data in the area of cultural heritage as linked

data to critically categorize ICH according to individual dimensions of particular ICH with semantics.

Conservation of ICH: Need and Challenge

Cultural heritage of the world is threatened by the rapid pace of life, development of urban culture, technological and economic growth (Alivizatou, 2011; Loh, 2001). There are many reasons/factors, which causes destruction to the heritage sites such as globalization, industrialization, community migration, related changes resulting in people adapting to the new environment, which stresses mundane benefits. Globalization seems attractive because

Figure 3. UNESCO’s Classification of Cultural Heritage

Tangible Intangible

Movable Immovable

Performing Arts

Social Practices Rituals and Festive Events

Oral Traditions and Expressions

Cultural Heritage

Painting


Sculpture

Traditional Craftsmanship

Monuments

Historical Buildings

Archeolo-gical Sites

Wall Paintings Furniture Manuscripts

Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe


everyone wants better life and opportunities. Everyone has the right to have options and to live a better life. Family cannot force their children to learn their family traditions. It is a complete violation of human rights. Apart from that, individuals have their own choices of what they want to learn and do in their future. It is one of the reasons that ICH needs to be protected for sustaining the knowledge and models. Natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, wind effects, fires, environmental fatigues and long-term climate effects are common natural contributor to the destruction (Drdacky et al. , 2007). Therefore, ICH gets erased in total or tends to change and evolve. One of the important research works alerting us of the fast-extinguishing invaluable ICH that needs to be protected to keep this planet as one that can sustain life is by Maldonado-Erazo, Tierra-Tierra, del Río-Rama, and Álvarez-García. Their study ‘Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Amazonian Kichwa People’, points out with evidence that indigenous communities like Amazon tribes are facing grievously the low appreciation of their millenary and ancestral manifestations and knowledge, due to society’s accelerated globalization. This has resulted in total break or minimization of intergenerational transmission of culture and knowledge, which results in fast cultural erosion and loss of collective memory of the community. In environmental sciences, medicine, technologies, art and sustainable way of life the ICH that Amazon tribes possessed was unique. For the last five centuries or more due to inroad of the urban west, there is a continuous destruction of these communities and their invaluable heritage. To some extend, the situation of India in regard to ICH is also very much like the above due to long period of foreign rule and later its own governments not giving priority to ICH due to various cultural and political reasons.

Living traditions and ICH are very diverse, because of heterogeneous human activities,

knowledge sources etc. Even if they have common elements with others, they are specific to communities whether they are in the same country or different countries and are very logic-based. And if we talk about the negative aspect of globalization, it brings homogeneity to the culture. ICH does play a role because it presents different traditions and provides different ways of seeing the world, which is based on the cultural evolution in other communities, revealing the same spirit that transcends space and time to bond humanity as a single-family, and so they are unique. ICH can be lost if they are not preserved and maintained properly. Once lost, ICH cannot be renewed. In the case of ICH, access is essential as preservation for its use to society for progressing further. ICH’s legacy is for the whole world. Therefore, there should be a proper documentation, listing, and efficient classification scheme for ICH to be appropriately categorized for archiving and preservation and retrieving and using embedded knowledge in time. Particular ICH is multifaceted, so every aspect needs to be considered, documented, and studied correctly. Until every aspect of ICH is known, it won’t be easy to categorize them on a comparable basis and identify the spirit embedded.

Objective of the Study

The specific objective of this paper is to examine the ICH taking a country with rich heritage as sample and to organize it, which can be further expanded for the ICH of the world. Considering authors’ closeness to the region and the variety of the cultures it has and the long period of civilization, India is taken as the sample. The present article begins by exploring the idea of ICH, focusing on its classification. Then, compares the classification scheme used by the select country - India with UNESCO standards to be taken as measuring rod and attempts to improve the scheme by updating the scheme for the country based on important divisions and subdivisions identified. The main objective of this paper



is to suggest the potential classification of the ICH. The paper intends to put forward a few suggestions to improve the system.

ICH and its Classification

The subject of ‘Classification’ is concerned with investigating sets of ‘objects’ to establish if they can validly be summarized in terms of a small number of classes of similar objects (A. Gordon, 1999). In 1972, the General Conference of UNESCO,

which met in Paris, at its seventeenth session, pointed out necessity of the protection of cultural and natural heritage at the national level from damage or destruction. The General Conference of UNESCO divided the world heritage into two, i.e., cultural and natural heritage. The Conference had further classified the cultural heritage into monuments, a group of buildings having historical importance, and sites (tangible heritage). In contrast, natural heritage is


Table 1. Details of ICH Elements From India in UNESCO’s List No ICH Category ICH Element Year of

Inscription1 Oral Traditions and Expression,

including Language as a Vehicle of the ICH

Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India

2012

Tradition of Vedic chanting 20082 Performing Arts Chhau dance 2010 Kalbelia folk songs and dances

of Rajasthan

Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala

Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre 2008 Ramlila, the traditional perfor-

mance of the Ramayana2008

3 Social Practices, Rituals, & Festive Events Durga Puja in Kolkata 2021 Kumbh Mela 2017 Nawrouz, Novruz, Nowrouz,

Nowrouz, Nawrouz, Nauryz, Nooruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nowruz, Navruz

2016

Sankirtana, ritual singing, drum-ming and dancing of Manipur

2013

Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India

2009

4 Knowledge and Practices Con-cerning Nature and the Universe

Yoga 2016

5 Traditional Craftsmanship Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India

2014


organized into three based on their natural features, geological and physiographical formation, and natural sites (Gruber 2017).

UNESCO took thirty years to recognize ICH. Finally, in 2003, at Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage - listed out the criteria for the inscription of the representative list. According this Committee ICH can manifest into but is not limited to the domains (UNESCO, 2009a) of Oral traditions and expression, including language as a vehicle of the ICH; performing arts; social practices, rituals, festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship.

As of now (April 2022) UNESCO has identified 14 ICH elements from India and is inscribed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national level academy for performing arts established by the GoI having headquarters at New Delhi is acting as the nodal office for the matters concerned to the submission of items for ICH nomination to UNESCO. Table 1 shows the details of ICH elements from India for which UNESCO’s tag was given.

The in-depth classification of ICH is still a problem because international organizations like UNESCO or Indian institutions like INTACH and other government or non-governmental organizations are still unable to do it. They still categorize them under the broad five domains provided by UNESCO’s

Convention of Safeguarding of ICH, mentioned earlier. The objective of the classification is to have a better understanding of various concepts at the micro-level and for better management and archiving; as mentioned earlier, ICH changes and evolves, and an efficient classification is needed to arrange ICH properly to enhances its accessibility, discoverability and the interoperability.

According to Sun Hua, Heritage types are not as complex as biology; therefore, establishing a logical classification system, accepted by academic cycles and straightforward, is not a tricky affair (Hua 2010). But this is not a valid point. ICH is multifaceted, so its classification must be based on the inter-relation of various concepts and categories, which make it quite complex to classify. The study of Dai et al highlight the concern of expressing complex relationships of ICH completely for its forms, like speaking, singing, dancing, by representing text, images, video or animation, etc. However in order to meet these requirements it is essential to analyze classification by its character after knowledge acquisition (Dai, 2014). For that, everything (every idea) must be known to the classifier, which is impossible because Cultural Heritage is a multidisciplinary concept. It has the interest of archaeologists (for TCH) anthropologists (for ICH), etc. The UNESCO Convention has divided the CH into three parts: monuments, groups of buildings, and sites. Sun Hua, in his article, argued that there is inconsistency in

Table 2: Classification of ICH in India


SN Categories of ICH UNESCO MoC1 Oral traditions and Expression, including Languages as a Vehicle of

the ICH2 13

2 Performing Arts 5 168

3 Social Practices, Rituals, Festivals, Events 5 344 Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe 1 55 Traditional Craftsmanship 1 27

Total 14 247


classification because the first two categories are justified ‘from the point of view of history, art or science. ’ In contrast, the last one is from an ‘aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view’ beside the ‘historic’ point of view (Hua 2010). Seulah Kim and others have classified the ICH into two types according to the nature of holders and successors. They defined the former as those which are practiced and passed on to a number of individuals, whereas the latter is passed down to only a few or a small number of individuals, and those successors are living treasures (Kim et al. 2019). According to the Australian Museum, the basic classification definition categorizes entities based on a primary and shared characteristic (Australian Museum,

2020). So, the Convention failed to deliver the common ground for the classification. As in biological classification, there are many levels and sub-level. Many anthropologists tried to classify ICH in their way, but they have done it only on a single level. For example, a simple system proposed by Èmile Durkheim divided ‘the confused multiplicity of all the ritual forms’ into two fundamental types of ritual action: one negative, the other positive. Negative rites, he argued, attempt to separate the human realm from the realm of the sacred by imposing restrictions or taboos. In contrast, positive rites try to bring the mortal and sacred realms into contact or communion. Similarly, Catherine Bell categorized the ritual into six categories based on completeness and simplicity. They are rites

Figure 4. State-wise Distribution of ICH in India Recognized by MoC



of passage, called ‘life-cycle’ rites; calendrical and commemorative rites; rites of exchange and communion; rites of affliction; rites of feasting, fasting, and festivals; and, finally, political rituals (Bell 1997).

Let’s take Ritual as an example. It alone has many dimensions. It can be divided based on the agricultural calendar, the passage of life, etc. (Brown, Mcilwraith, and Tubelle De González 2020). Some anthropologists classify based on Rites, while some are based on rituals. There lies the problem that there is no proper standard or criteria for the classification base. Similarly, Jan Vansina classified the Oral Traditions based on: the purpose, the significance, the form, and the manner of transmission of the testimony (Vansina, 1961). Oral tradition can also be divided into two based on their origin, i.e., particular origin (having a specific reference in mythology or epics, etc. ) and anonymous. However, both can have different versions and variations. A person’s memory inevitably becomes blurry and distorted over time, so the oral traditions extracted from a person may not be the exact as original. It is one of the primary reasons for safeguarding oral traditions.

Indian Scenario

India taken as sample for study here has a long and unique history and unbroken stream of culture from time immemorial. India is a country of vast cultural diversity. There is a famous proverb in India, and it says, ‘Kosh Kosh par badle paani char kos par Vani’ – meaning on every Kosh (roughly 3 km) taste of water changes, and for every four Kosh (approximately 12km) language of people changes. So, it cannot be imagined only how many different languages and intangible cultures can be found in a region. India truly has great treasures of cultural and natural importance in tangible and intangible forms and is also rich in its spiritual and intellectual resources (Gireesh, 2021). The term ‘dharohar’ has many manifestations. It can be culture, traditions, historical buildings (monuments), etc. If anyone talks about Cultural heritage, it is natural to think about monuments, historical buildings, shrines, etc. (tangible). Still, traditional practices, knowledge, and social practices (Intangible) are not considered as such. Cultural heritage as we have discussed, included tangible and intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Tangible cultural heritages

Figure 5: Oral Traditions and Expression in Different States and Union Territory of India



can be touched (monuments, buildings, etc.) and moved (painting, sculptures, etc.). In contrast, ICH includes those that can only be felt through individual senses, and thus they are fragile and non-renewable. Indian cultural heritage contains a vast and extensive collection of both tangible and intangible inheritances (Gireesh and Raman, 2021).

UNESCO has identified only fourteen ICH in India, while the MoC of GoI, has identified 247 ICH. MoC also divided these 247 ICH into the above five categories provided by UNESCO. Out of these, thirteen fall under oral traditions and expression (5. 2%), One hundred sixty-eight come under performing arts (68. 01%), thirty-four under social practices, rituals, and festive events (13. 7%), only five falls in the category of knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe (2. 0%), and twenty-seven under traditional craftsmanship (10. 93%). The MoC also identified eleven ICH elements (Qawwali, Veena and its music, Nowrouz, Yoga, Tradition of Vedic Chanting, etc. ) common across India and twenty-seven mixed ICH across India. In the map of India given in Figure 4; Red denotes one, and Green indicates 45

(highest). From the map it can be visualized that there are only a few States in India where the most significant number of ICH are identified (green color shades). But the rest of the States lies way behind them (red color shade). Figure 4 represents the State-wise distribution of ICH in India recognized by MoC.

From the MoC website, it can be understood that out of 28 States and 9 Union Territories (UT), only 26 States and three UTs have listed ICH. Out of these, West Bengal has the highest number of ICH, i.e., forty-five in total. The least number of ICH are identified in knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, i.e., five. For oral traditions and expression, six States and 2 UT have at most three ICH, which is significantly less compared to the vast cultural diversity of India (Figure 6).

Performing Arts is the only field of the ICH where the MoC and GoI excel and tried to identify the maximum number of ICH in India, especially in West Bengal, where the total number of ICH is thirty-three.

However, no attempt has been found in developing a classification system in the Indian scenario to rightly accommodate all

Figure 6: Details of Performing Arts Recognized by MoC



the ICH inheritances. It is very significant to have such an elaborative classification formula for standardization and interoperability. Authors have made an attempt to further classify the ICH based on the classification system developed by UNESCO. Figure 7 represents a classification framework of ICH.

Conclusion

It is the choice of the individual to select the profession or trade. But it results in family traditions, expertise, and knowledge passed down from generation to generation, reaching the verge of being forgotten and often getting erased in total. But it needs to be preserved for those who can practice or apply it for the benefit of society in the present and future. Along with preservation, good training centers need to be established so that if someone other than the family members of the traditional groups who hold that knowledge; want to learn a particular trade or profession, they can learn, practice, and pass the baton. This only can ensure conservation and use of traditional

sustainable knowledge and practices. Without a continuity of practitioners and facilities for their teaching and training, the knowledge and practices that evolved through centuries of human thought will inevitably vanish (Kim et al. 2019). Human beings have created and are at the center of the safeguarding of the ICH. So this invaluable heritage, which may contain the secrets of sustaining life on earth, cannot be saved and transferred to future generations without human intervention.

Everywhere time is the essence. As time passes, somewhere, we are losing a particular ICH. For example, the current scenario in Ukraine leads to the definite loss of numerous Cultural heritage items, including ICH. We lost Bhamian Buddhas, great knowledge collections of Alexandria and Taxila and lakhs and lakhs species of human groups like tribals, natives who may be few in number who lived in distant islands or interior of forests, who preserved unique rare cultures and knowledge on various sustainable sciences and also animals and birds, which embed in themselves knowledge

Figure 7: Representative Classification System for ICH.



still relevant to humans. We talk only about the loss of ephemera, its wealth and lives. The knowledge, textual heritage, memories and behaviors, great historical sites, biosphere and the like are of no concern to development projects or military involved. These losses are not a loss for the country alone but for the whole of humanity, knowledge on the ways to exist on the planet..

Apart from country and State-level ICH, even district and community-level ICH should be recognized, efficiently bringing a large number of ICH under one umbrella. UNESCO Convention has cleverly left the topic for discussion by adding a condition as ‘but not limited to’. Though the listed domains contain the most ICH, how can a particular ICH be preserved in an organized way to be accessed later? Every part has a sub domain, and a sub domain can have its sub-sub domain. For example, oral traditions can contain riddles, folklore, rhymes, and tales, and teachings and these tales can include legends, myths, etc and the orally transmitted unique and rare knowledge on medicine, architecture, environment or other sciences. So proper classification is required to have long-term preservation, effective organization, access and retrieval as well as dissemination. One of the challenges to preserve our culture and heritage, in whatever form they are - tangible or intangible is to consider the usability as well the accessibility in archiving the information preserved (Idris et. al., 2016). Government should establish formal institutions on national, State, district, and even regional levels so that they can identify ICH and include it in the national register of ICH as well as digital repositories.

Fundamental research by scholars working on culture, heritage and related areas and government institutes andthe concerned organizations needs time, which will help to study the ICH and preserve it. The category formulation will be more logical, and will ultimately benefit the scholars to learn accurately and government organizations to

preserve ICH. In the networked society, it is necessary to archive ICH carefully. Because if the documentation is not done carefully and correctly; and up to date technology that can be scaled up from time to time is used; knowledge will not survive, and relevant information will not be available in time to support preservation of invaluable ICH assets

Classification systems are intended for organizing information, knowledge or any other stack containing knowledge in a way in which it can be accessed speedily and effectively. It can organize as in other spheres of human activity. In the sphere of heritage knowledge on tangible cultural products of great historic and artistic value such as buildings, classical records and books, ancient documents, paintings, sculpture and handicraft; and archeological materials corresponding thereto as well as intangible cultural products of great historic and artistic values, such as drama, music, dance, craftsmanship and so on can be stocked in logical way like the alien, penumbral, umbral, penumbral, alien (APUPA) pattern as suggested by S R Ranganathan in the digital sphere.

Developing a Classification scheme for heritage will require identifying as many subject areas of concern under heritage as possible (CLIR,2021). An international classification system will require identifying millions of heritage items throughout the world and classifying them and organizing them under concerned domains at different levels. If we use one region or country only to identify domins and sub domains we will be able to identify only very limited areas coming under the realm. When we compare the regions of the world we can find that countries like China, Japan, India, African countries, South America and the Middle East possess more varieties of heritage items than European countries. So the scheme presently made available by UNESCO is covering only a very limited area under heritage domain. Comparison of UNESCO scheme with schemes developed in India for



the county and a survey in the concerned area has proved this. It is advisable to have country level expert groups to identify and classify the domains available in the region under heritage and developing regional level classification systems and UNESCO pooling domains identified by all countries at international level by selection, sequencing and standardization so that all countries can use the scheme effectively and the knowledge resources so developed at different regions using the scheme can be pooled to form a single knowledge base under UNESCO. AcknowledgmentThe first author carried out this work as part of his ongoing project on setting up of cultural heritage information system, sanctioned by the Institution of Eminence (IoE), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India, under its Seed Grant Program to new faculties vide No. R/Dev/D/IoE/Seed Grant /2020-21/. The author is thankful to IoE and BHU for the support and encouragement

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Intangible Cultural Heritage: Knowledge Classi

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