Confluence of Traditions and Composite Cultures

Interactions among different religious groups that have shaped the composite culture of India, be it in the realm of music, dance, architecture, crafts, poetry and other performative genres, are focused here. One of the important areas of exploration is to study those processes by which interactions in the realm of arts leads to creative transcendence of diverse identities and is responsible for cultural symbioses.

Some significant projects under Composite Culture are :-

Aqeedat Ke Rang

Under this project, performing traditions among the Indian Muslims such as Milaad, Qasida, Na’at, Hamd etc were documented in order to project different colours of devotion and dedication among the Indian Muslims. An eight-day long festival of ‘Aqeedat Ke Rang’, comprising a National Seminar, Public Lecture Series, Cultural Performances and an exhibition was also organised in 2008.

Two research studies have also been completed under this projects are-

• Islamic Heritage of North East India
• Arabic Malayalam and Linguistic Cultural Tradition of the Mappilla Muslims of Kerala

Qasba Sanskriti

Qasbas are basically small provincial towns in India, which are larger than a village and smaller than a city. Qasbas are connected to the rural economy on one hand, but also urbanized enough to compete with a city on the other. In order to document the cultural landscape of the Qasbas in India, the Division made a series of documentaries under the project ‘Qasba Sanskriti.’

Some of these documentaries have also been published. These are:

• Qasba Sanskriti Bilgram
• Barielly My Bareilly
• Qasba Sanskriti Amroha
• Aqeedat ke Rang Volume I & II
• Islamic Heritage of the North East India
• Cultural Heritage of Mappila Muslims of Kerala

Composite Culture of Delhi

Under this project 20 DVDs of interviews with eminent scholars and academicians have been documented, which cover Sufi traditions of Delhi: Dilli Yadon ki Mehafil, Persian Studies, Dilli ki Riwayat, Jadidiyat, Ghalib Academy, Aiwan-e Ghalib, Jama Masjid’s Stairs and Delhi’s food/ pakwan.