The Indian branch of International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) as well as International Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICICH) has organized an online essay competition on Bihu. The North East Zone committee of ICOMOS India is managing this competition. The competition is open for the students of graduate level and post graduate level anywhere in India. The NRI Assamese students can also participate in a separate category. The topics are as follows. For degree level students in India : History and Evolution of Bihu as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, for post graduate level students in India : Why should Bihu be included in Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. For the non-resident Assamese students of either graduate or post graduate level the topic is : Festivals similar to Bihu in different parts of world. The essays have to be sent to Sankar Krishna Das, zonal representative of ICOMOS for North East India; at the email Sankar1010@yahoo.com.The last date of online submission is 30th April, 2021. The competitors will have to give their own phone numbers and emails. The length of the essays should be within 2500 words.
It may be mentioned that ICOMOS is an international organization focusing on heritage & monuments preservation, conservation with traditional value intake. Already ICOMOS India is doing much more remarkable activities with mission towards actual value addition to heritage. The NER Chapter of ICOMOS organization is consistently doing holistic tasks for global cultural recognition to NER heritages. Last year a webinar was held by ICOMOS and ICICH on Bihu festival with cross country discussion participation, which led to mass publicity and actual analysis by the heritage experts about the harvesting festival of Assam. The North East Zone committee of ICOMOS has now organized the online essay competition on Bihu to further this drive for awareness creation about the Bihu as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.
There will be three prizes in each category. The winners will receive a valuable memento from ICOMOS in addition to a certificate. The participants will have to attach proof of studentship along with the essay, issued by the institution they study in. A panel of experts will judge the essays. A public meeting will be held in Guwahati around mid-May with scholars and practitioners of Bihu. The prizes of the essay competition will also be given in that function. This essay competition and public meeting on Bihu has been approved by ICOMOS based on proposal by Dilip Changkakoty and Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, both expert members of International Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICICH). They will spearhead the public meeting along with Sankar Krishna Das.
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