On the second day of the 48th Foundation Day celebrations of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, two-day National Seminar on Cultural Heritage of Chhattisgarh was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Shri Kapil Tiwari by lighting the lamp. On this occasion, he said that Sapta Matrika is identified from the tribal folk culture of India, which includes earth, nature, women, river, cow, language, power. He further said that there is no need for any school to learn the mother tongue and no one can translate the folk language. He demonstrated the importance of mother tongue through a story of a person who is in koma, regaining consciousness after listening to his mother tongue. Tangible culture originated from abstract culture like oral tradition of which a strong example is Chhattisgarhi dance Nacha which does not have any written text but is still being followed by tradition. While presiding over the program, Dr. Anand Murthy Mishra, Professor of Bastar University and RMS Samiti Member, said that the culture of Chhattisgarh is incredible. He explained the importance of culture by giving the example of Natyantar, the incident of Ramayana in countries like Greece, Iran, Iraq and the incident of punishing the Gods and Goddesses during Bhangram Mai Jatra in Keshkal of Bastar. Thereafter, Shri Ashok Tiwari, former curator of IGRMS and chairman of first session along-with Ajay Chaturvedi from Ambikapur, Mr. Somnath Yadav from Bilaspur, Mr. Bal Dau Ram Sahu presented their research papers on the cultural heritage of Chhattisgarh. Later on, the book exhibition and bibliography on the subject of art culture of Chhattisgarh was inaugurated by Professor Kamal Kant Mishra in the reference library of IGRMS. After that, while addressing the 19th Annual IGRMS Lecture, Professor Kamal Kant Mishra said that language and culture are interconnected and its relationship is unbreakable. With the decline of language, its culture and identity also gets destroyed. Language is the carrier of identity of an individual or community and mediates value systems, social codes, world sense and belonging. He emphasized on establishing a language gallery in the Sangrahalaya. The Cultural Performance begins with Karma Dance presented by the Chhattisgarhi community residing in Bhopal, followed by Pandit Ram and his team. It is the tradition of Surguja district to celebrate the festival of Karma with devotion. On this day, sisters observe Nijrla fast and pray for the happiness, prosperity and long life of their brothers. For this, a garland of Karam tree is established in the courtyard, houses and various religious rituals are organized along with decorating the Jwara. On this day, devotees dance on the beats of traditional Mandar. Thereafter, Muria Dance of Bastar district performed by Shri Butulu Ram and Team which is a famous dance performed by Abhujamaria tribe of Bastar district. This dance is performed after worshiping Kaksar, the God of Harvest and Rain. The Kaksar dance accompanied by music and the melodious sound of ghunghrus makes an exciting atmosphere. Through this dance, young men and women get the opportunity to find their life partners.

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