According to the oral traditions of the Cook Islands, sacred rituals were commonly performed on what is known as a marae or sacred ground. Each tribe has its own marae where ceremonies such as offerings of prayers, tributes to the gods and the induction of traditional titles on family members were once carried out. It also acted as a meeting place for important tribal matters.

While the circle is a quantifiable and concrete geometrical shape, the abstract idea of the circle has many different meanings, interpretations, and symbolic significance in Indian philosophical systems. These ideas have also culminated in varied manifestations of the concept into intangible cultural heritage. Garba is a ritual dance form where the knowledge and belief systems regarding the circle find choreographic expression. It is a social-community dance performed primarily by women in the Gujarat region in India. Performed during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navrātrī, the dance is primarily a celebration of feminine energy and an offering to the feminine divinity. It is also performed during the celebration of Sivaratri and weddings and in certain pregnancy rites.

Folkland, International Centre for Folklore and Culture is a nonprofit NGO devoted to promoting folklore and culture. Headquartered in Kerala in south-western India, Folkland has three main centers and several chapters in India and associations with other organizations abroad through MOUs and collab-orative partnerships. Folkland has been affiliated with the UNESCO ICH sector since 2010. Folkland envisions a society that respects cultural heritage by conserving arts and cultural traditions and transmitting them to future generations. As such, Folkland is proudly dedicated to promoting Indian culture and values with a focus on intangible cultural heritage. The center provides access to knowledge and information about intangible cultural heritage and is known for promoting indigenous culture that inspires audiences to explore the cultural and artistic heritage of Kerala. The main domains covered by Folkland are performing arts; oral traditions and expressions; social practices, rituals, and festivals; and traditional crafts. Folkland documents oral traditions and practices and extends training to younger genera-tions to revitalize old and near-extinct traditional art forms. One ICH element of particular interest to Folkland is tolpavakoothu (shadow puppetry).

In India, a land of faith, there are numerous occasions and venues where fear, desire, spirits, and rituals converge, leaving logic to take a back seat.

The use of plant remedies in the treatment of ailments and diseases has been practiced by indigenous peoples for generations. In Timor-Leste, there are many plants commonly used as folk medicine such as papaya (known as ai-dila in the local language. It is a small, bushy tree with a hollow trunk, large palmate leaves, and oblong smooth-skinned fruits). In traditional practice, the most popular among Timorese communities is papaya as medicine to prevent various types of diseases. Medical papaya plants are potentially valuable medicine concerns on health reasons for both indigenous and modern communities in Timor-Leste. Therefore, it is crucial to protect its natural habitat. Realizing the importance of medical plant conservation has been ongoing for ages by the indigenous communities as intangible cultural heritage. This article focuses on the importance of conserving local practices (knowledge) about the role of papaya leaves as local medicine to prevent various types of illnesses.

he upheaval and extinction faced by traditional culture is a core issue in today’s world. It has brought us to the realization that we are living in an important transition period where the future of humanity will be determined. In particular, the advent of digital platforms has provided a communication channel to link people together; the importance of these platforms seems poised to become much greater. In this era, in which means of communication are facing remarkable qualitative changes, oral tradition is under considerable threat. In past eras where humankind created languages and memories to resolve all kinds of issues and share information, speech was a way to achieve totality. Through speech, people delivered their thoughts and opinions, created new things, and embraced differences to become one. As such, spoken language became an absolute means and solution to maximize the immense capacity of humankind. People discovered interests and meanings through conversations; they combined work and enjoyment by singing; they wore masks and gave movement-based performances accompanied by amusing anecdotes. By reciting and dedicating bonpuri, a ritual song to pray to deities and receive oracles, their creations became content passed down through oral culture.

When it comes to the preservation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), threats that lead to the loss of the viability of one or another element of ICH are latently implied. From a social anthropological point of view, this is a question of the interaction between tradition and innovation: do new technologies always negatively affect traditional art? How does modern everyday life affect the sustainability of a traditional view of the world that underlies the identity of each element of ICH?\n

Silambam, a martial art originating from Tamil Nadu, South India, that focuses on stick twirling is one of many Indian traditional arts that have survived through the periods of Ancient India, Medieval India, and Modern India, including the British colonial era. It remained alive in other countries as well, including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore. Silambam is an ancient Tamil martial art that carries many Tamil cultural values in its training and also during the transmission of the art from master to students.\nAncient Silambam’s cultural heritage and knowledge survived thousands of years through transmission to many generations, but the art is currently facing extinction. This drastic change is due to contemporary Silambam practitioners forgoing the values of the art and adopting elements of other martial art cultures, introducing new traditions such as belt grading systems, becoming more competition focused, and so on. The martial art with these newly adapted elements has been categorized as Sports Silambam. Many new Silambam organizations have been registered and even masters who have coached traditional Silambam are adopting these changes to train students toward success in competitions. Meanwhile, competition organizers offer handsome rewards to the winners in order to entice many young students to learn Sports Silambam. By focusing on the new approach geared toward competition, Sports Silambam masters fail to preserve the original combat techniques and cultural heritage values of authentic Silambam arts. While Sports Silambam is heavily and widely promoted, authentic Silambam masters and practitioners are struggling and facing hurdles to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of this particular ancient Silambam. Adding to the obstacles is the issue of finding the right disciples to ensure the knowledge is transferred to the next generations in the current era of mushrooming globalization.

Women in the Philippine fisheries are often labeled as “the Invisible Fisherfolk”. Their pre-harvesting contributions are multifaceted, involving bait gathering, net fixing, and meal preparation for their husband while post-harvesting activities include bringing the fish to the shore, sorting, and cleaning of the daily catch. Women are normally associated with household chores. They are rarely admitted as an essential factor in pursuing their livelihood in the coastal communities. In most cases, women’s participation in fishing communities is neither socially recognized nor economically compensated. The primary goal for the development of women in the fisheries is to empower them, make them productive and self-sufficient. In this way, they can have an equal status as partners in promoting the living conditions of their own families and communities.

Dibya Jyoti Borah, President of ARHI introduces the role of ARHI in safeguarding of ICH. Established in 2008, ARHI is collaboration of individuals belonging to the indigenous tribe, activist working for the cultural-educational rights of native people. It is a wider platform for all indigenous communities to discuss and reflect upon challenges and problems faced by indigenous communities as well as finding the best means to address those concerns. It is a grassroots organization comprising all small & big indigenous communities.

Bangladesh, situated on the tropic of Cancer and due to its close proximity to the Bay of Bengal, has hot and humid weather throughout the year, except for a brief, moderate winter. These climatic conditions have made Bengal an ideal habitat for hundreds of venomous snakes, such as the king cobra. The high number of deaths caused by snakebites instilled a sense of helplessness in the people, compelling them to worship gods and goddesses for protection against snakes. Before converting to Islam, the people of Bengal were devoted to Hinduism, which has 330,000,000 guardian gods and goddesses. And Manasa, the snake goddess, is one of the most potent members of the Hindu pantheon.

The Dance of the Drums of Drametse, also known as Drametse Ngacham, is a popular mask dance performed throughout Bhutan. It was first introduced in the sixteenth century by Khedup Kuenga Wangpo, son of Terton Pema Lingpa. It is a unique Bhutanese cultural expression and reflects the cultural and spiritual identity of Bhutan. Until the late nineteenth century, the dance remained confined to the Drametse community under the patronage of Thegchog Ogyen Namdroel Choeling. Later it was introduced to other parts of the country. Today, Drametse Nagacham is performed in almost all local festivals and celebrations. In November 2005, at the Third Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO proclaimed it a Masterpiece.