New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) A four-day exhibition celebrating the intangible cultural heritage of the Himalayas in Ladakh and Northeast opened here on Monday as UNESCO and a popular motorcycle brand announced their partnership to document, promote and preserve aspects of this cultural legacy in the Himalayan region.

The exhibition, titled 'Journeying Across the Himalayas', is being held at the Bikaner House.

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Eric Falt, Director and UNESCO Representative in India described the partnership with Royal Enfield as a "meeting of minds", and said it has been forged to celebrate and promote the intangible cultural heritage of India, as also make efforts to document and preserve it.

"We are also hoping that very soon a special ride will take place of 100 motorcyclists from Kolkata, who will branch out to different parts of the Northeast in a bid to promote the country's intangible cultural heritage," he said.

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UNESCO sources said under the project, it is planned that these riders will cover 100 locations and help "document and bring focus" on about 100 elements of intangible cultural heritage such as customs, traditions, practices which many tourists don't get to know about during their travel to the Himalayan region.

UNESCO works on preservation of monuments, that is its calling card, but it also focuses on preservation of living heritage or what is called as the intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

A substantial part of India's cultural heritage consists of an extraordinarily dynamic array of ICH, including traditions of music, dance, theatre, storytelling, festivals, and rituals, the world body said.

"In a first of its kind endeavour, UNESCO and Royal Enfield, the world's oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production since 1901, have come together in a unique partnership to promote and safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of India, beginning with the Himalayas," it said in a statement later.

Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director, Eicher Motors said, "The Himalayas is the spiritual home for riders, particularly of the Royal Enfield. The company has been in India since 1955, and in motorcycle has been here much before that. We are very excited to partner with UNESCO to work towards building a sustainable future for this region".

At the event, he announced that as part of this partnership, in "late September, 100 riders will head out in eastern Himalayan region on a great Himalayan expedition".

Lal said he flew to Delhi on Monday morning after riding in Ladakh region for about 10 days, and asserted that the partnership with UNESCO was a step forward in the direction of promoting sustainable tourism and build resilient communities.

"Through this partnership, we aim to preserve and promote the culture, knowledge and traditions that are harmonious with fair and regenerative living and ensure that Himalayan communities are empowered to make decisions that support their resilience," he added.

As part of the exhibition, traditional dresses, old photographs, textiles and other elements constituting the ICH of Ladakh and Northeast region are put on display.

"I hope this partnership will inspire people to support sustainable, respectful travel," Falt said.

UNESCO has a very strong involvement at the central government level on aspects of ICH that "we fully support".

"Then we work with other partners on ICH of the states, and we have a very big partnership with West Bengal, and we are supporting 50,000 ICH practitioners or artisans. Since last year, we have started the same with Rajasthan, and thanks to the partnership with government of Rajasthan, we work mostly in western Rajasthan. And, the message here today is that everybody has a role to play, all stakeholders, the government, but others also, including the private sector," he said.

UNESCO had earlier collaborated with the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) – which owns the Taj hotel brand, to promote sustainable intangible cultural heritage with local communities at the forefront.

Besides the exhibition, a number of events will be held from August 23-25 with the Himalayas and its intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in focus. This includes an exhibition, panel discussions, film screenings, performances and lecture-demonstrations.

A related Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two sides recently, officials said.

Artists' expression of the living the heritage of the Himalayas, story of the indigenous Mishing tribe and textile traditions, among other subjects would also be discussed.

On Monday, singers and artistes from Ladakh performed with a traditional instrument 'kopong', and as also did singers from the Northeast region.

A special menu was curated for serving hors d'oeuvres and other refreshments, inspired from the cuisine of the Himalayan region.

As part of its ongoing programme globally and in India, UNESCO has been spearheading the movement to identify, document and preserve the ICH of India, which is one of the 178 countries to have adopted the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), for decades, it said.

Indeed, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that culture can contribute to economic growth, sustainable consumption and production, and the growth of sustainable settlements. Today, 14 elements from India are inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Given its long relationship with the Himalayas, stretching back over three decades, Royal Enfield's ambition is to partner with 100 Himalayan communities to adopt sustainable living practices, by 2030.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)