Project Mausam
The
Government has identified 39 countries to bring on board for trans-national
nomination for World Heritage under Project “Mausam”. The disciplines involved
in the project are those of archaeology, history, sociology, ethnography, marine
archaeology, oceanography, geography, economics, satellite imagery technology,
numismatics, art and architecture.
Project
‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Archaeological Society of India
(ASI), New Delhi as the nodal agency and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the
Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as its Research Unit. As an initial idea, the project
was proposed by Mr. Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and now has
been taken up as a prelude to its nomination as a transnational inscription on
the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
‘Mausam’
or Arabic ‘Mawsim’ refers to the season when ships could sail safely. This
distinctive wind-system of the Indian Ocean region follows a regular pattern:
southwest from May to September; and northeast from November to March. The
English term ‘Monsoon’ came from Portuguese ‘Monção’, ostensibly from Arabic
‘Mawsim’. The etymology of this word signifies the importance of this season to
a variety of seafarers. This intertwining of natural phenomena such as monsoon
winds and the ways in which these were harnessed historically to create
cultural networks form the building blocks of Project ‘Mausam’.
The
endeavour of Project ‘Mausam’ is to position itself at two levels:
1)
At the macro
level it aims to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries
of the Indian Ocean world, which would lead to an enhanced understanding of
cultural values and concerns;
2)
At the micro
level the focus is on understanding national cultures in their regional
maritime milieu.
The
central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes
and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian
Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands.
More importantly shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes
and impacted both coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.
Project
‘Mausam’ is an exciting, multi-disciplinary project that rekindles long-lost
ties across nations of the Indian Ocean ‘world’ and forges new avenues of cooperation
and exchange. The project, launched by India in partnership with member states,
will enable a significant step in recording and celebrating this important
phase of world history from the African, Arab and Asian-world perspectives.
Themes to be explored:
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Centres of Learning and Knowledge Networks
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Transformations from the third millennium BCE to the colonial period.
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Oral Traditions and Literary Writings
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Conceptualizing the Indian Ocean.
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Movable Heritage and Artefacts
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Inscriptions, memorial stones, archaeological objects.
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Pilgrimage and Religious Travel across the Indian Ocean
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Spices and cultural products linked to it
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Rites, Rituals and Cuisine.
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Objectives:
The
project will have two major units:
(i)
Project Research Unit and
(ii)
World Heritage Nomination Unit.
The
main objective of the project is transnational nomination of Maritime Cultural
Routes, creation of a comprehensive database and UNESCO web platform on
Maritime Cultural Landscapes and Routes and; linking other UNESCO cultural
conventions with the World Heritage convention through this theme. A Research
unit is being set up at IGNCA under the Project ‘Mausam’.
Goals:
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Reviving lost linkages with nations
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Countries along the Indian Ocean have shared links with each other
for millennia. Project ‘Mausam’ seeks to transcend present-day national and
ethnic boundaries, documenting and celebrating the common cultural values and
economic ties of the Indian Ocean ‘world’. This will not only strengthen
current ties between countries across the Ocean, but also set a precedent for
new bridges of co-operation and continued relations and interactions.
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Creating links to existing World Heritage sites
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Providing a platform to connect discrete Cultural and Natural World
Heritage sites across the Indian Ocean ‘world’ by providing a cross-cultural,
transnational narrative.
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Redefining ‘Cultural Landscapes’
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Identifying gaps in listing of sites and filling in lacuna by
providing a holistic, multi-layered perspective and drawing relationships
between the existing categories of ‘Natural’ and ‘Cultural’ Heritage. This
would redefine the concept of ‘Cultural Landscapes,’ and allow for a fresh,
multi-faceted approach to understanding past and present-day relationships.
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Achieving transnational nomination under World Heritage
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Advocating for ‘Indian Ocean Maritime Routes’ to attain transnational
nomination under World Heritage, increasing scope for visibility, research,
sustainable tourism, heritage development and promoting other Cultural
Conventions across the Indian Ocean region.
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List of 39 Indian Ocean countries identified under
Project Mausam:
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Bahrain
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Bangladesh
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Cambodia
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China
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Comoros
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Egypt
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Eritrea
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Reunion
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Indonesia
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Iraq
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Iran
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Jordan
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Kuwait
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Kenya
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Lebanon
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Madagascar
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Malaysia
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Maldives
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Mauritius
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Mozambique
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Myanmar
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Oman
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Pakistan
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Philippines
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Qatar
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Singapore
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Sri Lanka
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Saudi Arabia
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Seychelles
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Somalia
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South Africa
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Sudan
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Syria
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Tanzania
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Thailand
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Turkey
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United Arab Emirates
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Vietnam
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Yemen
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