The mountain terraces in the cordilleras of northern Luzon, Philippines, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1995. Propitiously, there was no mention of the word rice in the citation of the inclusion. It well may be because, when the Spanish explorers went up the cordilleras in the 16th-17th centuries, they made mention of the existence of terracing. However, no mention of rice was made.

Newar culture has different lifecycle rituals, performed at different stages of life from birth to death. These rituals are complex and embedded in the socio-cultural environment. With every lifecycle ritual, a person gains certain rights, responsibilities, and maturity within the society.

Food plays an important role in spiritual rituals and worship for many faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. The food offered to God is called prasada/prasadam, which means a gracious gift. Prasadam could be any o!ering, but typically an edible food is firrst o!ered to a deity in his or her name.

Nestled in the Himalayas between India and China, Bhutan is considered the only independent Mahayana Buddhist country in the world today. The rich and vibrant local customs, habits and traditions, crafts, and artistic sensibilities, derived from Buddhist teachings and practices, give Bhutan a distinctive identity of its own. Bhutan has conscientiously safeguarded these rich religious and cultural traditions, both tangible and intangible, as being one of the pillars of realizing the developmental philosophy of ‘Gross National Happiness.’

Nagorik Uddyog (NU) was founded in 1995 by a group of nationally and internationally renowned Bangladeshi human rights activists and academics aiming to promote good gover-nance, access to justice, and the institutionalization of democracy at the local and national level. In the beginning, the organization worked on voter education programs and raised awareness among women that they could claim their rights from local government institutions and from the community. In this awareness-raising initiative, community cultural heritage properties like the Baul folk songs were used and earned immense popularity. Over a period of time, NU extended its activities across the country with specific focus on the rights of marginalized people, especially Dalit rights, land and human rights of Indigenous peoples, and access to justice for rural communities.

Gijisi tug‐of‐war is one among many traditional Korean tug‐of‐war games. \nPlaying Gijisi tug‐of‐war forms a temporary community as well as a trans-mission community. In exploring the formed community, this article will discuss how the communities are formed, the features they have, and the meaning such temporary communities have. In addition, this article will examine how continuous and conventional communities enable the Gijisi tug‐of‐war event to take place. While doing so, different features of the tug‐of‐war communities will be discussed by comparing the characteristics of the Gijisi tug‐of‐war community with the Jul Nanjang, a special market held for the tug-of-war. Although different and both have changed, the characteristics of contemporary traditional transmission commu-nity will be clarified. Such comparative research might give Gijisi tug‐of‐war to find its unique position among traditional tug‐of‐war games.\nBased on the name, Gijisi tug‐of‐war, one may assume that the people who create such a spectacular would be residents in Gijisi‐ri or even residents of Dangjin, which includes Gijisi‐ri. However, participation in the tug‐of‐war is not restricted and is open to visitors from the whole country as well as foreigners. As such, a community for playing tug‐of‐war is temporarily formed. In other words, it is a temporary com-munity that is formed in a specific time and space.

The Kishkinda Trust (TKT) was established in 1997 with the belief that conservation and business incubation can help in socio-economic development of a community. The Kishkinda Trust is based in Anegundi village within Hampi, a World Heritage site, and involves creating a model village for cultural industries with a replicable plan across the country. The restoration and holistic development of its traditional homes and promotion of cultural industry incubators within these spaces will enable the local community to manage their art, craft, hospitality for heritage tourism and culinary enterprises. TKT focuses intensively on capacity building of local villagers across multidisciplinary fields of creative and cultural industries—architectural conservation, heritage restoration, crafts and design, management and hospitality, so that their lives are nurtured, enriched and empowered by their own culture and identities. This process reaffirms ties between tradition, everyday commerce and the quality of life.

Puppets have been a metaphor in Indian literature for ages. One’s deftness in getting something done is often compared with the skills of a puppeteer. Puppets reflect the helplessness of people in situations beyond their control, like a puppet dancing to the whims of the one pulling its strings. The metaphor, incidentally, is also applicable to the lives of string puppeteers of Muragacha in the Nadia District in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

Throughout the years, I have been researching Korean recreational activ-ities, and among them, the tug-of-war was definitely the most central theme. According to my research, the Korean tug-of-war has many different fea-tures following the different regional characteristics, but they also have similar patterns. Although it is possible to speculate that the diverse characteristics of each region’s tug-of-war is due to the area’s geo-ecological, sociocultural, and magi-co-religious factors and culture exchange, it is difficult to prove these factors in depth. Thus, this paper examines the diverse features present in the tug-of-war through studies completed up to now. Also I would like to add that the only intent for the tug-of-war studies was to compile and examine them in this report. Despite many methods in examining the diversity of tug-of-war, this paper sets a few standards to reveal the present features, and with these standards, the meaning of Korean tug-of-war can be understood.

Nagorik Uddyog (NU) was founded in 1995 by a group of nationally and internationally renowned Bangladeshi human rights activists and academics aiming to promote good gover- nance, access to justice, and the institutionalization of democracy at the local and national level. In the beginning, the organization worked on voter education programs and raised awareness among women that they could claim their rights from local government institutions and from the community. In this awareness-raising initiative, community cultural heritage properties like the Baul folk songs were used and earned immense popularity. Over a period of time, NU extended its activities across the country with specific focus on the rights of marginalized people, especially Dalit rights, land and human rights of Indigenous peoples, and access to justice for rural communities.

La Valiha est l’instrument de musique traditionnel le plus connu de Madagascar, cette île du Sud-Ouest de l’Océan Indien. Il s’agit d’une cithare qui dans sa forme classique est tubulaire, fabriquée à partir d’un bambou d’une certaine longueur (de 46 à 92 cm voire plus). Le tube qui servira à la fabrication est appelé Volo Valiha. Les cordes, pièces essentielles pour l’instrument, sont pincées avec les doigts et lui confèrent cette sonorité si particulière. \n\nÀ Madagascar, deux catégories de Valiha sont présentes : la première est celle de type idiocorde, dont les cordes sont fabriquées à partir des fibres de l’écorce du bambou utilisé pour le tube. Celles-ci sont rattachées à ce dernier par les deux extrémités et tendues par des petits chevalets en bois, à l’exemple de la Valiha torotenany de l’Imerina ou celle des Zafimaniry. De nos jours, les cordes sont généralement métalliques (Decary, 1968, p.68). La seconde catégorie de Valiha est de type hétérocorde, avec des cordes indépendantes fixées au tube (Razafindrakoto, J., 2000, p.1). Les particularités des Valiha  tubulaires se trouvent dans le nombre de cordes, de chevalets et du matériau pour la fabrication : bambou ou raphia (Rakotomalala, M. M., 2009, pp.103-109). La Valiha sur caisse, à l’instar de la Valiha Vata des Sihanaka ou la Salegy des Mikea, appartient à la deuxième catégorie. La Valiha possède, selon la population des régions qui l’utilise et sa forme (tubulaire ou sur caisse), une riche terminologie : Marovany, Valeha, Vadiha, Manibola, Betoroky, etc. Il s’agit d’un instrument de musique qui constitue un élément du patrimoine culturel immatériel (PCI) distinctif de tout un peuple.\n.

The culture in the East Coast of Malay Peninsula are rich in visual and performing arts inherited over time immemorial. The art is also found to have similarities in three different states, despite their geographical gap. The similarities are shared in dialects, languages, presentations, builds, and past legacy artifacts. The Malay craftsmanship is also dominated by the Malay community in the East Coast and it is also produced in the form of art and fashion. Artifacts such as boats, houses, and furniture are still visible until now and they have high artistic value. This paper is aimed at displaying the various type of Malay traditional boats and symbols produced by the Malay community on the craft of the boat. There are several name of the boats produced by local craftsmen based on their function and usability. For example, a small line boat is used in river and coastal areas, the payang boat used by deep-sea fishermen, and the jokong boat is used to transport heavy goods. The art can be seen in the carvings and paintings produced on traditional Malay boats craftsmen in the East Coast. This art does not only serve as an ornament and for its aesthetics, but also has its own symbolism. The decorative art produced shows that the three main aspects necessary in Malay art are function, aesthetics, and ethics. The belief in the existence of supernatural powers – which preserve and safeguard their safety at sea and their ability to get income from marine products – underpins the craft of this decoration art.