Governmental Policies towards Digitalisation of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Odisha and its Accessibility by Migrated Population

Abstract

Odisha is a state of India that is known for its rich cultural heritage, be it tangible heritage like monuments or intangible heritage like folklore and language or natural heritage like biodiversity. Every Odia takes pride for its cultural heritage, but people of Odisha staying away from the state, i.e., the migrated population of the state usually get disconnected from the state’s culture owing to their out of sight leading to out of mind However, information technology has made it possible to preserve, revitalize and make the cultural heritage of the state accessible to all across the country and globe through digitalization. Among varied cultural heritage of the state, the one that needs the maximum attention to preserve and spread is the intangible cultural heritage, i.e., folklore, language, knowledge and traditions. Digitalizationhas been helping to preserve and revitalize the intangible cultural heritage in the best possible way. Information technology by way of electronic, press, and social media has been helping to make the cultural heritage accessible to all conveniently. It has the potential of keeping the migrated population of the state connected with the rich intangible cultural heritage of the state. However, it is pertinent to examine whether the intangible cultural heritage of the state has been adequately digitalized. It is also apt to assess the level of support to promote digitization of intangible culture through the governmental policies. Moreover, it is also important to unfold whether digitalization has made the intangible culture of the state accessible to the Odias staying away from Odisha. On this backdrop, this paper is designed on the basis of both primary and 315secondary data to ascertain how digitalization of cultural heritage has been supported by the governmental policies and has it has been made it accessible to the migrated population of the state. While secondary data have been used to analyse the governmental policies for preservation of cultural heritage of the state and their outcome, primary data collected by way of personal interviews and case studies have been used to assess the extent of migrant individuals’ accessibility of digital cultural heritage.