Deepavali, India’s spectacular festival of lights, is now inscribed on UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, along with 19 other cultural heritages that featured in 2025 list.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established this aiming at ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages across the world and spread awareness of their significance.
Apart from Deepavali in India, traditional saree weaving art of Tangail also secured a place in the list.
What is UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity?
According to UNESCO, “cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects”, but “also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts”.
Intangible cultural heritage, according to UNESCO, is “traditional, contemporary and living at the same time”, “inclusive”, “representative”, and “community-based”. It is “an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalisation” — and “an understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life”.
Which of India’s cultural heritages are on this list?
Apart from Deepavali that has been included this year, the India list has: Durga Puja in Kolkata (2021), Kumbh Mela (2017); Nowruz (2016); traditional brass and copper utensil-making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab (2014); Sankirtana of Manipur (2013); Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (2012); Chhau dance, Kalbelia dance of Rajasthan, and Mudiyettu of Kerala (2010); Ramman festival of Garhwal (2009); and Kutiyattam Sanskrit theatre, Ramlila, and Vedic chanting (2008).
Here’s a full Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity 2025
- Amateur theatre acting in Czechia | Czechia
- Bagpipes and bagpipe playing in Bulgaria: transmission of knowledge and skills | Bulgaria3
- Behzad’s style of miniature art | Afghanistan
- Bisht (men’s Abaa): skills and practices | Qatar – Bahrain – Iraq – Jordan – Kuwait – Oman – Saudi Arabia – Syrian Arab Republic – United Arab Emirates
- Brussels’ rod marionette tradition | Belgium
- Christmas Bram and Sambai of Gales Point Manatee, Belize | Belize
- Commandaria wine | Cyprus
- Cuarteto: music, dance and lyrics in the city of Córdoba, Argentina | Argentina
- Deepavali | India
- Family tradition circus in Chile | Chile
- Festivity of the Virgen of Guadalupe – Patroness of Sucre | Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
- Gifaataa, Wolaita people New Year festival | Ethiopia
- Guruna, a practice of pastoral, socio-cultural and artistic retreats centered on livestock among the Massa | Chad – Cameroon
- Hadrami Dan gathering | YemenJoropo in Venezuela | Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
- Koshary, daily life dish and practices associated with it | Egypt
- Mvet Oyeng, musical art, practices and skills associated with the Ekang community | Gabon – Cameroon – Congo
- The Confraternity of flowers and palms | El Salvador
- The practice of Cuban Son | Cuba
- The zaffa in the traditional wedding | Djibouti – Comoros – United Arab Emirates – Iraq – Jordan – Mauritania – Somalia
- Traditional Saree weaving art of Tangail | Bangladesh