Nathdwara is a famed Vaishnavite pilgrimage site in the Aravalli Hills, fifty kilometers northeast of Udaipur, Rajasthan. Hundreds of thousands of devotees annually visit its central Shrinathji Temple to worship a fourteenth century icon of Shrinathji, a beloved child incarnation of Lord Krishna.\n\nBesides Shrinathji’s sanctum, Nathdwara was also widely known for its unique regional arts—the worship-related pichwai paintings that depict Krishna’s life stories for the unlettered and the reverential semiclassical haveli sangeet music that was sung and played directly to Krishna. The area was also famous for delightful terracotta sculptures that portray sacred images from the countryside and touching scenes of village life.\n\nIn recent years, however, haveli sangeet has lost its following, and few young musicians try to learn its demanding dhrupad-based songs. Similarly pichwai painting and local terracotta arts have fallen on hard times. While there is still a bit of tourist interest in these ancient traditions, the impact of western fashion, mass advertising, and globalized culture have driven both out of vogue domestically.\n\nMost of India’s religious institutions confine their efforts to purely spiritual endeavors, but given Shrinathji’s long intimate relations with the town’s cultural life, the temple took notice of its artists’ plight. The Nathdwara Temple Board, Shrinathji’s managing trust, and trustee Sri Vishal Bava suggested providing some kind of innovative platform for artists to showcase their paintings and crafts on the crowded streets outside the temple.\n\nSri Dinesh Kothari, Nathdwara Temple Board CEO, took this concept and designed a project called Wall of the Lord that used a broad empty stretch on the temple’s own outer wall as a public gallery. Approximately 140 pichwai painters have now completed 63 masterful paintings on this 180 meter expanse, in styles ranging from traditional and devotional to expressively modern. Three exquisite large terracotta murals have also been installed there, and together, these exhibits not only beautify the temple but also offer dramatic visibility, hopefully renewing market demand for struggling local ICH artists.\n\nLaunched on 26 January 2017, the novel Wall of the Lord initiative has already started attracting its own audience as a must-see site of the Nathdwara pilgrimage that reminds visiting devotees of the splendor of their heritage and the inseparable nature of creativity and the divine.\n\nPhoto : Nathdwara painters adorning the temple wall © Lokesh Paliwal

Angam (also known as angampora) is a top-level Sinhalese martial art. Included in the Sri Lankan national ICH list, the techniques of this indigenous combat performance rely on the strength of human body incorporating shots, punches, locks, jumps, and wrestling elements. Yoga, meditation, and magic are also fundamental parts of angam. Angam fighters require elevated physical strength and flexibility as well as mental strength to channel spiritual power. It improves practitioners’ personality, endurance, patience, and mental strength.\n\nLegends would tell that Sinhalese kings mastered angam and intensified their support to promote it. After the Kandyan monarchy, the last kingdom of Sri Lanka, angam was transmitted under two main generations, sudaliya and murawalliya.\n\nOlder than Sri Lanka’s written history, angam is highly endangered of disappearing as there are few practitioners left to transmit the art to future generations. Mr. Vageesha Bandara Wicramawansha is one such angam master. He and his team of roughly seventy angam masters performed at the Janakala Kendraya Premises, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka on 26 August 2017. The cultural show was organized by the ICH panel of the Art Council of Sri Lanka as a part of its monthly ICH performance program.\n\nPhoto : Angam Performance © Buddika Mahesh Kodikara

Kalika is a Hindu goddess. Also known as Ambav and Gauri, she is a symbol of energy and female power for which she is worshiped by Bhil tribe of Mewar in a forty-day ritual called Gavari. The timeless, spiritually-motivated, and electrifying dance-drama is a crucial part of the rich Mewari tribe tradition. Their performance—a synchronized amalgam of ritual, dance, music, myths, folklore, and theatrical plays—can be a truly mesmerizing cultural experience. It needs not a formal stage yet maintains an attraction that keeps the audience engaged and involved.\n\nGenerally, the colorful Gavari performance holds on to the theme of “victory of the divine against the demon” and creatively retells folk tales, myth, and history, incorporating satire and contemporary issues in its short episodes. Performed only by the male members of the Bhil tribe, Gavari starts with and maintains a mimesis of the female power of Kalika. It is typically performed by ten to fifty members of the tribe, who are from different age range and have varied roles in the performance. Each performance has a vital message combined with spiritual invocations, which makes its telling more effective. The rising beats of Madal intensify the atmosphere in such a way that the audience can get into trance. Members of the Bhil tribe believe that they can be cured by the blessings of the main priest or by Kali. The Gavari performance splendidly presents stories carrying tribal wisdom. It also affirms simplicity, equality, communal harmony, consciousness, art appreciation, and upmost environment protection for sustainable development.\nEffects of modernity and globalization reaching tribal areas in India, however, have molded an abrasive attitude toward practices known to be “traditional”. In the last couple of decades, it was observed that the younger members of the Bhil tribe have less interest in keeping their tradition alive. They prefer to work as laborers than learning and performing Gavari. Gavari performance is seen to have no worthy benefit and thus must not be actively transmitted. This alarming situation may banish the purest form of performing art along with its music, stories, folk tales, songs, divinity, and wisdom, all particular to the southern part of Rajasthan, India.\n\nThe biggest challenge in safeguarding Gavari is to bring its identity and pride back to restore the ignored cultural heritage of Mewar. Enhanced visibility of Gavari performance at both national and international levels could help in realizing its socioeconomic benefits. Documentation, digitization, and dissemination art are very much needed to relocate this Gavari and its wisdom to next generations in a systematic manner. Through efforts of NGOs working in the ICH field such as the publication of the first pictorial book on it, film, and website, it is possible for people to have vicarious access to Gavari. Notwithstanding, more efforts are needed to protect the heritage of Bhil tribe.

Hindu Nepali women celebrate a huge festival—one of the biggest occasions in Nepal—known as teej. It takes place on the third day of Shuklapaksha in Bhadra (normally in August or early September). The mythical explanation of teej purports that Hamalay’s daughter Goddess Parvati went through a rigorous fasting for 108 years known as hari talika teej with the desire to have Lord Shiva as her husband. Having witnessed the willingness of the Goddess to be with him, Lord Shiva accepted her as his wife. Goddess Parvati’s spirit, devotion, and strong intention generally compose the story upon which teej festival is grounded. Inevitably, Nepalese women have come to see teej as a venue for them to show their devotion to their significant other. If unmarried, they celebrate teej as a symbolic prayer to someday have a good husband.\n\nIn a highly male-dominated society such as that of Nepal, this kind of festival rings the idea of female subjugation and puts women empowerment in question. Does teej, a Nepali heritage as it is, survive a misogynistic culture? How do women (re)create themselves in a festival created by men for men? To put these inquires in context, it should be noted that Nepali women have historically been regarded as inferior objects. In the old days, if married, women would not be allowed to visit their hometown; they would not be given easy access to basic needs of living such as communication and transportation. teej is, again, a festival created by men symbolically for men, but it also is, and absolutely a venue for women. Nepali women use this opportunity to be with others to share their sorrow, happiness, and other deep emotions in togetherness. It has been reported that women use Teej as an assembly to collect funds for women-centered causes, taking advantage of the big occasion to raise development issues.\n\nteej remains as an important festival in Nepal, a surviving cultural vein of the South Asian nation. It honors Nepalese folk life, folk songs, and ancient Nepali music. Wearing red attire with fancy ornaments, participating in singing, dancing, and eating dar (a particular food in Teej) are the main activities in the festival. These days, both women and men observe the festival, recognizing its cultural value\n\nPhoto : CONTRIBUTED BY ANIL GANDHARBA

On 16 February 2021, Hindu Buddhist population of Nepal celebrated Basanta Panchami also known as Shree Panchami or Sarashwoti Puja. This day marks the arrival of spring that could be seen with blooming peach trees and other flowers in the neighborhood. This day falls on the fifth day of shukla pakshya (waxing moon phase) of the Nepali month of Magha. So literally basanta panchami means spring on the fifth day of waxing moon.\n\nOn this day, the special event is organized in an ancient palace—Hanumandhoka Durbar Square of Kathmandu known as Basanta Shrawan. According executive director of the Hanumandhoka Museum, Mr. Sandeep Khanal, this event has continued since the Malla period (1100 to 1769 CE). At that time and until the monarchy was abolished in 2008, the king used to attend the ceremony. Even though in the Malla period, the ceremony was not known as Basanta Shrawan, but the inscriptions mention about worshipping the god Kamadeva.\n\nThe president of Nepal as a head of state attends this ceremony accompanied by the prime minister and other VIPs. The ceremony welcomes the spring, the second stanza of book Geet Govinda is recited. From this recitation this ceremony is named Basanata Shrawan. Along with Geet Govinda, Byachali raag is also recited. Priest performs the special worshiping on the auspicious time set by the panchanga samiti (group of astrologers who sets time and date for the auspicious occasions of major events). Normally the auspicious times are in morning and this year the auspicious time was set on 10:17 am. A group of musicians also play sitar in this event.\nIt is also celebrated as Saraswati Pooja, worshiping the goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. On this day, early morning parents are seen with the kids learning to write on the walls of temple of Goddess Sarashwoti with chalk. This is the symbolic meaning for asking blessing from Goddess Sarashwoti to read and write. On this day many parents start initiating teaching alphabets to the kids. Schools around the country also organize events to worship goddess with various other entertainment programs.\n\nBuddhist in Nepal believes Maha Manjushree arrived to Kathmandu from Lasha on this day. Manjushree is associated with the legends of formation of Kathmandu Valley. Manjushree came to worship the light in the lotus blooming at the center of lake. He could not reach there so, cut the hill (which is now believed to be chovar) with his sword and let water out of the lake. After the drainage of water settlement in the valley stated. Manjushree is one of the Bodhisattva that symbolizes wisdom and worshiped on this day. So along with the Sarashwori Temple, the temples of Manjushree are crowded as well.\n\nSo, this day is considered auspicious. For the start of new ventures, building houses or getting married according to the Nepali culture, people check the auspicious date with the astrologers. This day Of Basanta Panchami is considered to be so auspicious that people don’t need to consult for an auspicious date. Therefore, on this day we can see many marriages taking place and people starting new houses or constructing new houses.\n\nAs in other many festivals and rituals, this day is also an example of syncretism of Hinduism and Buddhism in Kathmandu Valley.\n\nPhoto 1 : Sister teaching younger brother to write on the wall within the premise of temple. © Monalisa Maharjan\nPhoto 2 : Wall of deity full of writings of kids during the worshiping. © Monalisa Maharjan

The Heritage-sensitive Intellectual Property and Market Strategies (HIPAMS India) aims to investigate how developing ‘heritage-sensitive’ intellectual property protection strategies can give communities greater control over the commercialization of their heritage while contributing to its safeguarding and on-going viability.\n\nIntangible cultural heritage (ICH) practices, such as craft, dance, musical performance, storytelling, and painting, give communities a sense of identity and belonging. The sale of products created by ICH practices can also create jobs and income. However, many communities in developing countries like India experience significant difficulty preventing the appropriation of their heritage by others, for example through mechanization of production methods. Conventional intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyright, patents, and design protection, offer limited protection to the authors of original creations or new inventions that cannot easily be used to protect cultural expressions whose authors are unknown, and that have been passed down through the generations, changing and adapting to new contexts. HIPAMS India engages with three Indian ICH practices—Baul and Fakiri music, Chau dance, and Patachitra tradition to investigate how developing ‘heritage-sensitive’ IP protection strategies can give communities greater control over the commercialization of their heritage while contributing to its safeguarding and on-going viability.\n\nHIPAMS India Operates under the Following Objectives\nAssess the impact of Contact Base’s AFL strategies on socio-economic development and ICH safeguarding in the identified communities and on market outreach.\nCo-create effective, replicable and scalable HIPAMS for use by these communities, based on this review process and research on similar case studies in other contexts.\nConsider the impact of implementing these HIPAMS on socio-economic development and ICH safeguarding and market penetration.\nDisseminate the findings in co-authored academic publications incorporating case studies from the project.\nTranslate research findings into policy briefs and workshop tools.\nThe project aims thereby to contribute to the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 by helping to build sustainable communities, protect and safeguard cultural heritage, enhance wellbeing, address income inequalities, promote economic empowerment (of women), and reduce poverty.\n\nVisit the HIPAMS India’s website to learn about its activities and download their marketing strategies toolkit.\n\nPhoto : Purulia mask © HIPAMS

Bodu beru (literally “big drum”) is the most popular and one of the oldest surviving forms of music and dance in the Maldives. The tradition is thought to have been brought to the Maldives by African slaves in the nineteenth century. Some people also believe that it evolved as an alternative to eleventh-century court music.\n\nBodu beru is usually performed by a group of fifteen to twenty people—composed of at least a lead singer and three drummers. Goat skin is commonly used as the drum’s membrane and the wood of coconut palm as the drum’s barrel; stingray skin is also used as a substitute for goat skin. The beat is hammered out with bare hands in a slow tempo, building up into a crescendo. This intensity continues before reaching an abrupt end. The song accompanying this drumming is called baburu lava or negro song. In the olden days, the lyrics were a meaningless combination of local and African words usually sung after a hard day’s work.\n\nNowadays, songs sung with bodu beru accompaniment are written in Dhivehi, the local Maldivian language. During musical shows, performers render a dance called baburu neshun or negro dance while wearing a sarong and white short-sleeved shirt. Bodu beru is popular at weddings, Eid occasions, and events held in relation to the circumcision of young boys. Also, with many tourist resorts realizing the commercial benefit of a relatively inexpensive cultural activity for their tourists, many bodu beru groups have been formed to perform in resorts. A current and more commercial revival has been led through an annual reality show/competition known as Boduberu Challenge. Some videos of the program are available here.\n\nPhoto : Bodu beru performance by young practitioners CCBY2.0 Shafiu Hussain

A puppet festival is a public-driven performance of tradition in Muragachha Colony in the Nadia District of West Bengal, about 120 km from Kolkata. It is organized by the local people under the aegis of Banglanatak dot com, a social welfare organization. Muragachha Colony, and its neighboring village, Borboria, are home to puppeteer families who have not only plied their craft across Bengal but also traveled to many fairs and festivals across India. Masters in string puppetry, or suto putul as it is known in Bengal, they are trying their best to preserve this traditional folk theater, often referred to as putul natok or putul nach in Bengal, against stiff competition with electronic media and modern forms of amusement.\n\nMost puppeteers in these areas trace their roots to Khulna and Barishal in Bangladesh; their practice of string puppetry originated from the Kathputli of Rajasthan. According to veteran puppeteers, however, they are facing challenges as the younger generation is not keen on pursuing a life of puppetry—typically a family-driven profession—due to dwindling income.\n\nConventionally, the puppeteers travel all over the Bengal region between Durga Puja at the beginning of summer, performing at various fairs, festivals, and household functions with their portable stage and dolls. A puppet head is usually made of sholapith, a mold-able milky-white spongy plant matter, which is then painted with facial expressions that require the delicate touch of a master. Designing and tailoring the colorful and intricate puppet garments are also important.\n\nBanglanatak dot com has been working with the puppeteers for the past few years, training them to create a script and a more contemporary, more relevant stagecraft; their intervention is chiefly to provide support to revitalize Bengali puppetry in a workshop setting. This activity helps not only to discover the cultural dimensions of entertainment but also to understand the ways in which puppetry can be a tool to disseminate cultural knowledge. A writer, narrator, musicians, puppeteers, and skillful assistants work together as a team to prepare the puppet festival.\n\nWith support from the West Bengal Khadi and Village Industries Board (WBKVIB) and Rural Craft Cultural Hub—an initiative of West Bengal government’s Department of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise & Textiles (MSME&T)—in association with UNESCO, the puppet festival, Putul Naach Mela, was held for the first time from 15 to 17 December 2017 at Muragachha Colony Primary School to spread awareness about the suto putul of Bengal.\n\nPhoto : Putul against a wall between showings © Banglanatak dot com

Kathmandu Valley is also known as the city of temples with stupas, shrines, and statues in every nook and corner of the historic centers. Festivals and rituals unfolding throughout the year make the place even more outstanding. It would be interesting to know how most of these monuments and festivals have survived for over hundreds of years.\n\nThe Newar people, or indigenous people loosely identified as those living in Kathmandu Valley, are accustomed to caste, locality, and the system of guthi. Guthi refers to social associations with objectives similar to a format of trusts that play an important role in safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage. It is still a backbone for the continuity of most festivals, rituals, and traditional practices in Kathmandu Valley.\n\nIn Nepal, every household is a member of at least one guthi formed for a specific purpose, like taking care of temples, performing mask dances, playing musical instruments, lighting butter lamps, taking care of stupas or bridges, and many more. Among many types of guthi is si guthi or sana guthi, which means being in charge of the cremation ceremony. Another example is twa guthi or the responsibility of male family members to be serve a certain function for their caste—teaching traditional musical instruments and taking care of specific temples, rituals, and festivals are exemplary functions of twa guthi.\n\nOne of the important aspects of the guthi system is the land endowment for sustaining guthis. In ancient times, wherever the temples were built or whenever festivals were initiated, the land was endowed to guthi. From the revenue generated from the given land, guthis paid priests, masons, craftsmen, artists, and others. In Nepal, it was not only kings and royals who did such endowments but also regular people. There were several reasons for this. People donated land for various purposes, such as religious piety or to fulfill the obligation one’s social status affords; moreover, this was done to avoid the state confiscating the land in times of political unrest. Once it was endowed to the god, to revoke it would be considered a great sin. Due to these reasons, there were many guthis and sufficient funds to safeguard several hundred temples, festivals, and rituals.\n\nIn the early phases of Nepali history, land endowments were taken by the state and rulers for their personal use; eventually repossessed lands were used to construct public buildings. The nationalization of guthi lands was a major setback to the indigenous community. Many guthis disappeared due to lack of the funds and rapid modernization of Nepal. The guthi system is not taken seriously in formal heritage conservation practices. If timely measures are not taken, then this unique practice will not survive long.\n\nPhoto : The guthi belonging to farmer Kilagal community performing the mask dance called Devi Pyakha during the Yenya Punhi Festival © Monalisa Maharjan

Shola, or sholapith, is a milky-white, spongy plant matter that is shaped into objects of art and utility by the indigenous communities of West Bengal in eastern India. It is lightweight and versatile, enabling it to serve a diverse range of functional and esthetic purposes. For instance, traditional craftspeople now use shola for their intricate work since the ban on ivory use.\n\nShola, or sholapith, is a milky-white, spongy plant matter that is shaped into objects of art and utility by the indigenous communities of West Bengal in eastern India. It is lightweight and versatile, enabling it to serve a diverse range of functional and esthetic purposes. For instance, traditional craftspeople now use shola for their intricate work since the ban on ivory use.\n\nShola became hugely popular during the period of the British Empire. The ubiquitous shola topi (pith helmet) was worn in the colonies in Asia and Africa and became symbolic of the colonizers. Shola has always been essential in the Bengali Hindu cultural tradition. Shola objects like topor (bridegroom’s headgear) are a must at every wedding.\n\nIndigenous communities use shola in their rituals throughout the different districts of Bengal. The Manasar Chali is a depiction of the goddess of snakes, fertility, and wealth and is customary for the worship of Manasa all over North Bengal. A wall hanging known as Saitol is considered auspicious in wedding and childbirth rituals. String puppets are made from a shola base and a clay exterior, as shola is both light and easy to shape. Flowers are made with shola for both ritual and ornamental purposes. In modern times, various accessories and decorative items made of shola have become increasingly popular. There are now only around a score of master craftspeople who have the skills to make intricate items, though 7,000 craftspeople are associated with this craft.\n\nShola, or sholapith, is a milky-white, spongy plant matter that is shaped into objects of art and utility by the indigenous communities of West Bengal in eastern India. It is lightweight and versatile, enabling it to serve a diverse range of functional and esthetic purposes. For instance, traditional craftspeople now use shola for their intricate work since the ban on ivory use.\n\nShola became hugely popular during the period of the British Empire. The ubiquitous shola topi (pith helmet) was worn in the colonies in Asia and Africa and became symbolic of the colonizers. Shola has always been essential in the Bengali Hindu cultural tradition. Shola objects like topor (bridegroom’s headgear) are a must at every wedding.\n\nIndigenous communities use shola in their rituals throughout the different districts of Bengal. The Manasar Chali is a depiction of the goddess of snakes, fertility, and wealth and is customary for the worship of Manasa all over North Bengal. A wall hanging known as Saitol is considered auspicious in wedding and childbirth rituals. String puppets are made from a shola base and a clay exterior, as shola is both light and easy to shape. Flowers are made with shola for both ritual and ornamental purposes. In modern times, various accessories and decorative items made of shola have become increasingly popular. There are now only around a score of master craftspeople who have the skills to make intricate items, though 7,000 craftspeople are associated with this craft.\n\nThe project for the revival of shola www.sholacraft.com) by Contact Base (banglanatak.com, a social enterprise in India) is supported by the German Consulate General of Kolkata under the German government’s Cultural Preservation Program. An exhibition, Green Ivory, was held in Kolkata between 17 and 19 July 2019, showcasing exquisite shola craft products. Young visitors were especially thrilled, as for many of them, the material was a new discovery, and they had lots of fun learning some simple crafts at the workshop conducted by the artists.\n\nPhoto 1 : Shola flowersⓒBanglanatak dot com\nPhoto 2 : Shola exhibition ⓒ Banglanatak dot com\nPhoto 3 : Manasar chali ⓒ Banglanatak dot com\nPhoto 4 : Happy students ⓒ Banglanatak dot com

Listed on the UNESCO Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, the Oselvar boat was resurrected from near-extinction when the Os Båtbyggjarlag Boat-Builders Guild, Os municipality, and Hordaland County founded the non-profit boatyard and workshop foundation Oselvarverkstaden in 1997 with the support of the Arts Council Norway. The Oselvar boat used to be western Norway’s main mode of transportation and, as predominantly known, it is a Norwegian cultural icon that symbolizes the kingdom’s leisure craft. On the other hand, Costa Rica’s carreta or traditional oxcart is the Central American country’s most famous craft. Inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 (though originally proclaimed in 2005), the traditional oxcart used to transport coffee beans in a ten-to-fifteen-day journey, from Costa Rica’s central valley over the mountains to Puntaneras on the Pacific coast. As a mode of transport, it lingers on a mobility that is built around agriculture, transcending a cultural aesthetics informed by rural imaginary. The presence alone of carreta is an explicit call to end deforestation and be much more mindful about climate change. The Oselvar boat of Norway and Costa Rica’s traditional oxcart are two living examples of the creative union between transportation and craft so that we may see public transportation as a cultural understanding of intangible heritage.\n\nThe South Asian nation of Pakistan, with its twenty-six national highways and three strategic highways, does not shy away from parading the abundance and importance of ICH in public roads. Pakistan’s truck art, the largest art industry in the country, is a living construction of identity by making visible a host of cultural signifiers, from religious piety to popular imagination. Albeit there is no economic benefit from decorating a truck, and even though such undertaking costs at least a whooping USD 2000 back in 2011, it has been the norm, according to Jamal J. Elias, for fleet owners to have their trucks decorated. Since 96% of the freight in Pakistan is carried by trucks, one can easily imagine the widespread presence of truck art. Focusing on the art in the craft of vehicular decoration, as well as on pleasure, protection, and suffering experienced by truck drivers, Anna Schmid contends that truck art is a form of popular culture in which central societal assumptions and values are contested in that truck art, by the very process of putting it in the public sphere, puts social mobility in a terrain bounded by semiotics or the study of signs and how these signs meaningfully interact with each other in religious, political, and cultural terms. Schmid draws truck construction by highlighting the specialized craftsmen principally responsible for it: blacksmiths (who attach a steel skeleton to the chassis to hold the body and the driver’s cabin), the body makers (who create the body composed of wooden pine slats held together by metal and wooden cross-pieces), lacquerers (who spray paint the body), upholsterers (who install the seat of the cabin), and the painters (who apply motifs and other necessary decorations).\n\nUnsuspecting the ethnic diversity of Pakistani society, on the basis of categorical decorative motifs such as explicit religious symbols and images, talismanic and fetish objects, talismanically or religiously loaded symbols, idealized elements of life, elements from modern life, the non-religious calligraphic program of the truck, Jamal J. Elias, a scholar who thoroughly examined the typologies and evolution of truck art and proposed five regional styles of truck art: Punjabi, Swati, Peshawar, Baluchi, and Karachi styles.\n\nTruck art is an exemplary case to theorize that the process of understanding ICH is a public work, a work that compels mediation and collective valuation. Something that transforms personal sentiments into public feelings. And what’s more interesting about the truck art of Pakistan, other than it being an industry of its own, is its direct connection to transportation—that a vessel practically meant to transport a commodity from one place to another actually carries something more than what it does, and it does beyond time and place, connecting cities and regions that ultimately become unknowable large-scale social processes. Indeed, when a symbol travels, its meaning exponentially multiplies.\n\nPhoto : Truck art ⓒ B.B.P. Hosmillo

Storytelling is an integral part of many cultures and social practices. It is also a way of transmitting knowledge from one generation to another. There is an undeniable change in the ways people across cultures practice storytelling due largely to the advent of technology. People in the past, as televisions, computers, internet, and even electricity were nonexistent, used to gather and share stories, even life events were narrated in the form of a story.\n\nOld people still recall gathering near a fireplace during winter and telling stories in Nepal. Slowly this traditional conduct of storytelling is being replaced by new media, so young people have little to no chance of experiencing storytelling as a form of social bonding and interpersonal interaction. With the aim of reviving the traditional form of storytelling as well as documenting these stories relating cultural heritage and social practices in the public space, a group of young people engaged in heritage conservation started a storytelling program known as Baakhan Nyane waa (literally: let’s listen to the stories).\n\nThe first edition of Baakhan Nyane waa started on 8 September 2018 with a storytelling session about the Gunla Festival celebrated by the Newar Buddhist in Kathmandu Valley. Gunla Festival is held in the September. The venue for the event was a courtyard known as pinganani in Kathmandu of the Tamrakar community, and the storyteller was Mr. Swatantra Bahadur Tamrakar, a retired professor of physics and one of the gurus of Tamrakar Gunla Baajan Khala, the traditional musical group of the Tamrakar community.\n\nThe latest storytelling series (fifth edition) was done on 19 January 2019 in Kirtipur city in front of Uma Maheshwor temple with the theme, “Name of the places.” Since the first edition, the event has been taking place in the different historic cities around the Valley, and stories related to the history and culture of the place have been shared. The chosen storyteller is somebody who has a deep knowledge about the community where the storytelling session is held, including the community’s history, culture, and rituals. The participants of the event are locals as well as people from other places, since the event information is disseminated via a Facebook event page. Live streaming of the event is done through Facebook live for the people who are not able to attend physically. One of the interesting parts of this event is after the storytelling session the organizer distributes popcorn or nuts, traditionally known as baakha paa, which used to be distributed traditionally after every storytelling session. The small snacks after the stories used to be a motivational factor to come and listen to the stories for many as joyfully remembered by older community members.\n\nThis is a new initiative by young people to safeguard oral traditions. Those engaged in this program contribute their free time, expertise, and even resources. More details about this event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/baakhannyanewaa/ .\n\nPhoto : A Scene of Baakhan Nyane Waa ⓒ Baakhan Nyane Waa