KOCHI: Project Mausam, launched during the 38th World Heritage Session in Doha in June with UNESCO’s blessings, aimed to promote cultural relations with 38 countries in the Indian Ocean region which were linked through sea trade routes in the past, said Ravindra Singh, Union Culture Secretary, here, on Monday.
Inaugurating a national conference on the project, Singh said that the project would cover the existing gap in archaeological and historical research on coastal sites and their hinterlands.
“At macro level the project aims to reconnect communications among these countries through enhanced understanding of cultural values, while at the micro level the focus is on understanding our national cultures at the regional milieu,” he said.
Within UNESCO’s World Heritage Conventions, Project Mausam would fill gaps in understanding the history from African, Asian and Arab perspectives.
“The phenomenon of monsoon guided all these travels and cultural exchanges. The word monsoon has its roots in the Indian-Arab origin Mausam,” Singh pointed out.
The project aims to tie up regional researchers and academics on a common platform to shed more light on sub-continent’s maritime history. It would also involve reviewing archaeological sites, architectural and industrial heritage and cultural landscapes along the Indian Ocean coast.
