No proposal for Lai Haraoba in UNESCO list: Minister
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 04 2025: Union Minister of Culture & Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that Lai Haraoba, Manipur's traditional festival and ritual, has been included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage but not yet proposed for inclusion in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Responding to a question by MP Dr Bimol Akoijam in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Gajendra Singh said that the Ministry of Culture, through the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), examines proposals from communities and stakeholders for nomination to the UNESCO list.

As per UNESCO's latest operational directives, each member state can nominate only one element every two years for possible inscription.

For the 2024-25 cycle, India has nominated the Deepavali festival, which will be considered at the 20th session of the Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage scheduled to be held in New Delhi in December 2025.Shekhawat said that at present no proposal for Lai Haraoba's inclusion is under con sideration.

The minister explained that the process of nomination to UNESCO begins with the element being listed in the National Inventory, for which detailed documentation such as videos, photographs and a brief description is required.

This process has been completed for Lai Haraoba, which is now the 50th element in the National Inventory, according to the official website of the India ICH portal.

Notably, Deepavali festival is listed as the 40th element in the national inventory.

Those in the inventory usually have a document highlighting the detailed description of the cultural heritage, a consent letter from an authority, images and videos.

However, there is no such documents for Lai Haraoba even though it is listed at the 50th place out of 54.Apart from the ICH inventory, there is also another list under the heading "Pan-Indian ICH Inventory (Work In Progress)" and it also has Lai Haraoba, Moirang folklore (probably Moirang Kangleirol), Sankirtana, Shikalpan and Khousaba (ritual of Phayeng), Tangkhul Nurabi, and the Making of Pena from the state in the list.

Comment