Indo-Guyanese culture spotlighted at ICCR anniversary event

The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) in Georgetown, Guyana has been recognised as one of the oldest cultural centres established outside of India for preservation and promotion of Indian culture.
The SVCC was established as a flagbearer of India’s cultural diplomacy initiatives by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), which celebrated its 75th Foundation Day on April 9. Over the years, the ICCR has played a major role in enhancing India’s diplomatic landscape through cultural engagements.
During an event hosted by the Indian High Commission in Georgetown on Tuesday to commemorate this milestone, Director General of ICCR, Shri Kumar Tuhin, delivered a virtual address.

As part of the celebration, a Yoga session as well as an interesting panel discussion was organised at the SVCC, tracing the history and evolution of the Indo-Guyanese culture incorporating unique Indian traditions and adapting them to the new surroundings.
A prominent panel of experts from the fields of Indology, Indian culture, religion and ethnic studies including Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi Dev, Chris Persaud, Dr Seeta Shah Roath, and Dr Ritesh Tularam shared their thoughts about the pivotal role played by the Indian culture centre in Guyana since 1972.
The panellists called the centre and ICCR’s initiative to send dance, music and language teachers as a beacon of hope and reflection of the yearning that the diaspora community has towards their ancestral roots.

While Dr Ramharack, Dev and Persaud highlighted different elements of the challenges and struggles of the Indo-Guyanese community and expressed their gratitude towards many prominent Guyanese, including artists and experts in the direction of preserving the shared heritage, Dr Shah Roath shared interesting anecdotes on Indian dance, music, cuisine and costumes besides underlining the role of Indian theatre.
Dr Tularam highlighted the role and contribution of ICCR scholarships and its importance for connecting the young Guyanese with their ancestral roots besides contributing towards higher education, technology and other areas of knowledge and encouraged young Guyanese to avail of these opportunities,
Making briefing remarks at the event, High Commissioner Dr Amit Telang underlined the role of ICCR and its cultural centres in expanding the footprint of India’s soft power through cultural democracy initiatives going beyond the traditional realm of dance and music, covering democracy initiatives, youth leadership, academic exchanges, Yoga and traditional medicine which have expanded the role of centres such as SVCC.
High Commissioner Telang appreciated the role and contribution of the present and former Directors and teachers at the SVCC who have played a crucial role towards this end.
According to the ICCR’s website, it was resolved at the historic Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi in 1946 to set up an Indian Council for Cultural Cooperation to revive and promote closer cultural ties with the other Asian Countries and to project the Indian personality and its rich culture through “Indian eyes”.
The ICCR was established some three years later with its scope expanded outside of the Asian region as part of forging closer cultural ties with the rest of the wide world.
ICCR facilitates the exchange of artistic and cultural values at some 37 Cultural Centres such as the SVCC across the world. These centres serve as hubs for cultural exchange and hosting various events that reflect the diversity of the Indian culture.
The ICCR offers an extensive range of over 3,000 scholarships across 21 different programmes to international students from over 180 countries.
In Guyana, the SVCC runs regular classes in Yoga, Dance (Kathak), Tabla, Harmonium and Vocal.
Additionally, Indo-Guyanese have also been benefitting annually from several ICCR scholarships and exchange programmes for training in dance, music, painting, sculpture and other forms of fine arts. (G8)