India's Project Mausam
Project ‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as the nodal coordinating agency. As an initial idea, the project was proposed by Mr. Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and now has been taken up as a prelude to its nomination as a transnational inscription on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. ‘Mausam’ or Arabic ‘Mawsim’ refers to the season when ships could sail safely. This distinctive wind-system of the Indian Ocean region follows a regular pattern: southwest from May to September; and northeast from November to March. The English term ‘Monsoon’ came from Portuguese ‘Monção’, ostensibly from Arabic ‘Mawsim’. The etymology of this word signifies the importance of this season to a variety of seafarers. This intertwining of natural phenomena such as monsoon winds and the ways in which these were harnessed historically to create cultural networks form the building blocks of Project ‘Mausam...