Vedic Heritage Portal and Virtual Museum launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at IGNCA
23rd March, New Delhi: Vedic Heritage Portal and “Kala Vaibhav” (Virtual Museum) initiated by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts was launched by Amit Shah, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation at IGNCA amidst recitation of ‘Vedic’ verses. On this occasion, Union Minister of Culture and Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Shri Gangapuram Kishan Reddy was also present. The other dignitaries present on the occasion were Shri Rambahadur Rai, President, IGNCA, Uma Naduri, Joint Secretary, MoC, Dr. Sachichidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA and Dr. Sonal Mansingh, Rajya Sabha MP and Trustee, IGNCA along with other eminent personalities from across India and world.
The inauguration program started with Vedic chanting by “Batuks” (Vedpathis) from various ‘Gurukuls’ of the country and “Vidushis” from Rohtak’s Gurukul. After this, Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the “Vedic Heritage Portal” and the virtual museum “Kala Vaibhav” by pressing the button of the remote. However, the Home Minister had to leave after some time due to urgent work, but later he sent a written message. In this message, he said that the Modi government is securing the knowledge of India’s ancient scriptures and manuscripts for the future through technology. He tweeted about the event, “Inaugurated the Vedic Heritage Portal created by IGNCA today. With this, the younger generation will be able to carry forward the knowledge and tradition of Vedas and Upanishads. Along with this, the virtual museum “Kala Vaibhav” based on 64 arts was also inaugurated. Through this museum, the world will be more familiar with all the arts of India’s architecture, painting, drama, music etc. and the world will be facilitated to know the rich history of India’s glorious culture.”
Vedic Heritage Portal which has been made by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts under the aegis of Ministry of Culture is one-stop solution for the common user and researchers who would like to search any information regarding the ‘Vedic’ heritage. The portal gives detailed information about oral traditions, textual tradition in form of published books/manuscripts, or implements (Yajna related objects). The main objective of the portal is to collate information for making Vedas accessible to people and provide a forum for further dialogue. The Vedic Heritage Portal has been prepared in Hindi and English languages. Through this portal one can understand ‘Vedas’ in simple language. 550 hours of Audio-Visual content of more than 18 thousand Vedic verses (mantras) are available in this. People who know Vedas, Veda research institutes, ‘Vedapathi’ families and ‘Veda’ experts from all over the world have cooperated in preparing the portal. “Kala Vaibhav” (Virtual Museum) was also inaugurated during the event. In “Kala Vaibhav” (Virtual Museum) ‘64 Kalayen’ (64 Arts) have been explained in simple and lucid language on this portal.
In this portal, audio-visual as well as scripted verses (mantras) with special technical effects have been incorporated with translation. Research articles and lectures on many scientific subjects explaining the relevance of ‘Vedic knowledge’ in the perspective of modern science are documented in this portal.
There is also a plan to set up a virtual Vedic gallery of Vedic sacrificial vessels used in “Yajna”, which has 250 sacrificial vessels from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This humble effort of the Centre in preserving and promoting ‘Vedas’, the intangible heritage of humanity, will pave the way for the seekers of ‘Vedas’.
Addressing the audience at Vedic Heritage Portal and Virtual Museum, G. Kishan Reddy started by paying his tribute to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on Martyr’s Day and said “I pay my respects at the feet of the three brave sons of Mother India”. He further reiterated that IGNCA’s effort to introduce the ancient culture of India with new technology to the coming generations is commendable. He further added that IGNCA since last few years has been giving culture the technological advancement it needs and the launch of ‘Vedic Heritage Portal’ and ‘Kala Vaibhav’ the virtual museum is a historical occasion. Our ancient scriptures have the power to answer all difficult questions pertaining to life and its challenges said Shri. G. Kishan Reddy. He concluded by saying that art is integral to Indian living style and this portal and museum will bring to people the rich heritage, art and culture of this country and he in the end congratulated IGNCA for launching the portal and museum which has been done with keeping India’s history in the forefront.
Shri Rambahadur Rai speaking at the launch event said that it is a surreal occasion for IGNCA and for India. He also stressed that ‘Vedic’ heritage has a relationship with the ancient, contemporary or present times and it will have continuity in the future too. In context to the launch of the portal he said ‘Veda’ is the part of the oral traditions since the beginning of time and ‘Vedic Heritage Portal’ is documentation of the same. At the end of the event Dr. Sachichidannad Joshi extended a formal vote of thanks to the prominent guests and the ‘Batuks’ and Vidushis who traveled all the way from Rohtak and other parts of the country to be present at the event. Dr. Joshi also paid his tributes to the great sons of soil on “Saheed Diwas” and said because of them we live and breathe in free air.
