January 3 – GS1/Art and Culture: 2026 | UPSC Daily Answer Writing Practice PDF Download

Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Comment. (UPSC GS1 Mains)

India is unmatchable in terms of having largest and most diverse mixture of traditions and cultures. Its diversity is reflected by tangible and intangible art heritage which is as old as the Indian civilization. India is a cradle of finest cultural symbols of the world which includes architecture, performing arts, classical dance, sculptures, paintings etc. The art heritage of India has a special place among the countries of the globe.
The recognition of Indian art can be gauged from the fact that 29 cultural sites which includes, Ajanta caves, Great living Chola temples, Agra fort, Elephanta caves etc. are on the Tangible Cultural World Heritage list of the UNESCO and more than a dozen elements which includes KumbMela, Yoga, Nawrouz etc. on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO With the passage of time cultural significance of India is increasing at the global to the extent of considering culture as the mainstay of the largest democracy in the world. ‘Incredible India’ campaign has risen to higher pedestal owing to the importance given to the cultural heritage of the country. So preserving and protecting art heritage of India that reflects the cultural sensibilities of Indian civilization becomes imperative.

Some of the factors that make preserving our art heritage imperative include:

• Art as symbol of national identity: Culture and its heritage reflect and shape values, beliefs, and aspirations, thereby defining a people’s national identity. It is important to preserve our cultural heritage, because it keeps our integrity as a people. Our national leaders used cultural symbols to instil sense of oneness 
• Art as an instrument of harmony and social cohesiveness: Art and culture has played an important role in unifying the nation. It has acted as an instrument of harmony and social cohesiveness. 
• Art as symbolic narration of history: Indian art is an immediate expression of Indian civilization as a whole. It represents beliefs and philosophies, ideals and outlooks, the materialized vitality of the society and its spiritual endeavours in varying stages of development
  • Art represents history and in fact art narrates history of who we are and where we have come from. Monuments, paintings, dance and sculptures are strong reminders of many identities and histories that form our collective consciousness and become an inalienable part of ourselves.
• For example, the art of painting was widely cultivated in the Gupta period and is best known through the paintings surviving in the Ajanta Caves, and also in the Bagh caves.
• Art as symbol of harmony with nature: Indian painting, sculpture, architectural ornamentation, and the decorative arts is replete with themes from nature and wildlife reflecting love and reverence, and therefore the ethics of conservation. A wide range of images of forests, plants, and animals are to be found in Indian miniature paintings and sculptures. The theme of the Hindu god Krishna’s life depicted in miniature paintings underlines an appreciation of ecological balance. He is shown persuading people to worship the mountain in order to ensure rainfall. Krishna swallowing the forest fire also signifies a concern for the protection of forests and wildlife.
• Although the art heritage of India has immense value in terms of its historical, national, economical, and political significance, many of the art forms and monument buildings are dissipating from the Indian map rapidly. Protecting and preserving art has become the need of the moment given the challenges that have been brought in by industrialization, globalization, modernization, environmental degradation, and automation which has made the traditional arts and crafts outdated for the people. 

Some of the challenges and threats that the traditional arts and heritage of India are facing include:

• India, with several millennia of history, boasts of a diverse and rich built heritage. Each region of our subcontinent boasts of monumental buildings and remarkable archaeology. Yet, less than 15,000 monuments and heritage structures are legally protected in India—a fraction of the 600,000 protected in the UK. 
• Even those structures considered to be of national/state or local importance in India and protected as such remain under threat from urban pressures, neglect, vandalism and, worse, demolition, only for the value of the land they stand upon. 
• Monuments and arts are protected by central and state agencies which are lacking in staff and expertise. The heritage continues to be the least priority for most governments. Museums and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) remain gravely short-staffed with an inadequate number of licensing and registering officers. 
• Despite the strong legislation, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, to protect the antiquity of India, the smuggling of Indian art treasure which includes among others sculptures in stone, shrines, terracotta, metals, jewellery, ivory, paintings in paper, wood, cloth, skin, and manuscripts over a hundred years old etc. to the outside country is unabated. 
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau, between 2008 and 2012 a total of 4,408 items were stolen from 3,676 ASI¬-protected monuments across the country, but only 1,493 could be intercepted by police. Overall, around 2,913 items are feared to have been shipped to dealers and auction houses worldwide during this period. 
• According to the National Mission for Monument and Antiquities, there are approximately 7 million antiquities in India. But only 1.3 million had been documented. A report by the Comptroller and Audit General stated in 2013 that the ASI had outlined irregularities in the preservation of antiquities by the state and central agencies which includes:
  • No mandatory requirements for inspection by Superintending Archaeologist 
  • Absence of complete and proper documentation of works estimates 
  • Non-preparation of inspection notes after site inspection 
  • Faulty budgeting of works 
  • Delays in work completion
• Indian traditional art and craft gradual seclusion from the larger population and the craft-guilds has affected the cultural sustainability of the country. Due to industrialization Indian traditional art and craft are losing their potential market. 
• Climate change and environmental degradation has adverse impact on the art heritage of India. A study conducted by UNESCO “Study of Environmental Effects on Cultural Property, India’ 1987 has outlined the increasing threat of climate change and atmospheric pollution on Indian artefacts and buildings. 
• Some of the findings include: 
  • Copper and bronze objects continue to deteriorate and tarnish even when displayed or stored in a museum. This type of effect is largely due to the pollution present in the atmosphere. 
  • Increasing pollutants in atmosphere will have drastic impact on the heritage sites of India which includes Taj Mahal, Red Fort of Delhi, and thousands of temples and shrines.
• All these challenges require an immediate attention and need of the hour is to make a holistic strategy to preserve and protect our cultural heritage. 

Some of the steps which could be instrumental in reviving and retaining our art heritage include:

• Tapping of the Public-Private Partnership models for sustenance of arts and crafts. e.g. Monument Mitra and Adopt a Heritage Scheme of government. 
• Greater involvement of universities in schemes promoting arts and culture as well as inclusion of Fine Arts as a subject in universities. 
• Preserving and properly promoting India’s rich intangible cultural heritage by inventorizing and documenting oral traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, guru-shishya systems, folklores and tribal and oral traditions and also extending patronage to various dance forms like Bihu, Bhangra, Nautanki, Dandiya and other folk dances besides classical forms 
• Setting up at least one museum in each district with different chambers for visual and other forms of art, architecture, science, history and geography with regional flavour. 
• Enhancing assimilative capabilities in order to adapt to emergent challenges of globalization and technological innovations. 
• Promoting regional languages 
• Making cultural and creative industries work in tandem for growth and employment. 
• Generating demand for cultural goods and services as a matter of sustenance rather than patronage, thus bringing out the art and culture sector in the public domain. 
• The promotion of export of cultural goods and services for taking the country in the list of first 20 countries ranked by UNESCO for export of culture. 
• Recognizing ‘cultural heritage tourism’ as an upcoming industry by building cultural resources with an adaptation of scientific and technological knowledge to local circumstances as well as forming partnerships between local and global bodies.

Topics covered - the chola empire, the mughal empire