Union Ministry of Culture launched project Mausam to explore multi-faceted Indian Ocean

Union Ministry of Culture on 20 June 2014 launched the Project Mausam at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Doha, Qatar.

The aim of the Project is to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean world and collate archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean

Director General UNESCO expressed great interest in the project. Besides, ambassadors of several countries namely China, UAE, Qatar, Iran, Myanmar, and Vietnam have also expressed keen interest in the multi-faceted cultural project.

First International conference on the project is scheduled to be held in February 2015 in New Delhi with national and international research partners and collaborators. The central theme of this conference is Great Centres of Learning: Knowledge Societies and the Making of the Indian Ocean region.

Project Mausam
Project Mausam was initially proposed by Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Union Ministry of Culture. It is a Union Ministry of Culture initiative with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as the nodal coordinating agency.

The main objective of the project is transnational nomination of Maritime Cultural Routes, creation of a comprehensive database and UNESCO web platform on Maritime Cultural Landscapes and Routes and; linking other UNESCO cultural conventions with the World Heritage convention through this theme.

Endeavour of Project Mausam is to position itself at two levels
• At the macro level – the project is aimed to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world and it would lead to an enhanced understanding of cultural values and concerns
• At the micro level – the project’s focus is on understanding national cultures in their regional maritime milieu