The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), known in India as the majestic Gaja, is an integral part of the Subcontinent’s cultural memory, spiritual consciousness, and ecology. To celebrate this irreplaceable bond, the INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) Heritage Academy will host its annual World Heritage Week celebrations from November 19 to 25, focusing on the theme – Gaja Lok.
This week-long event will be held at the INTACH Multipurpose Hall in New Delhi. This unique, multi-disciplinary exploration is based on the evolving relationship between humanity and the Asian elephant. This series shall weave together historical, spiritual, and environmental narratives spanning centuries. By dedicating its World Heritage Week to this subject, INTACH underscored its commitment to protecting not just architectural ruins, but also the living heritage that defines the region’s diversity and identity.
The Lectures will be Live Streamed :
Understanding Gaja Lok
Through a curated series of lectures, cultural performances, and exhibitions, Gaja Lok expresses how elephants have shaped civilizations, from myth and art to warfare. The event brings together renowned historians, ecologists, artists, and musicians to celebrate this majestic animal. Gaja Lok, thus, reflects INTACH’s mission to preserve and interpret India’s multifaceted heritage. The main focus of the event is on the interconnection of cultural, historical, and environmental narratives, showcasing how art, literature, and conversation intersect.
The themes highlighted in the discussional schedule include the role of the elephant in the Arthashastra, Mughal diplomacy, colonial exploitation, and its spiritual connections across borders. This initiative essentially expands INTACH’s objective to foster heritage consciousness through dialogues and exchanges, supplementing the understanding of ancient wisdom and contemporary ecologies.
The adoption of this approach situates the Asian elephant as a centripetal figure in India’s intangible heritage, a symbol that ranges from royal chronicles, religious texts to modern conservation reports.
Exhimition Details
| Event | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Gaja Lok: World Heritage Week Celebrations |
| Organiser | INTACH Heritage Academy |
| Dates | November 19 to 25 |
| Venue | INTACH Multipurpose Hall, 71 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi |
| Time | 4:00 PM Daily |
| Core Theme | Human–elephant relationship across cultural, historical, and environmental framings. |
Key Highlights
- The event underscores centuries of shared space, respect, and adaptation between species across the subcontinent.
- From Vedic rituals to Mughal court traditions, elephants symbolize power, protection, and prosperity.
- Insights by renowned scholars like Dr. Raman Sukumar and Vivek Menon integrate ecology, conservation, and heritage studies.
- The series bridges India’s cultural dialogues with Southeast Asia, emphasizing elephants as a transnational heritage link.
- The exhibition and performances celebrate elephants in visual and performative traditions, from textiles to music.
- Lectures will be live-streamed, extending accessibility beyond the physical venue.
Takeaways
By holding dialectic conversations, the event aims to create a holistic educational experience. It allows attendees to appreciate the elephant not merely as an object of conservation but as an active agent in shaping history, tradition, and ecology. By creating a focused centre around natural heritage, INTACH broadened the conventional definition of ‘heritage’ beyond stone and mortar, and invoked its essence into breathing symbols. The event is a nostalgic glance into the past, but with a “call to action” model aimed at reviving indigenous ecological sensibilities. It also mobilizes public opinion and protracts them towards a wider perspective, leading to improved public quotient and awareness regarding the focused subject.
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The event stands out as INTACH’s spirit bridges the temporal and the tangible, inviting audiences to rethink the measures of coexistence. Events like this are crucial in mobilising public opinion, proving that the struggle to preserve biodiversity is fundamentally a struggle to preserve human history and identity. It is also a gentle reminder that protecting history begins with respecting life itself.
