Sahapedia online heritage portal set to go live

How have Deccan's Kalamkari textile-paintings gained an Indian appeal today? Which are the famed Uttarakhand tribal foods? Where exactly is Yamuna Biodiversity Park? Reliable answers to these and many more such questions are to be provided with the launch of an online interactive platform - Sahapedia.

Focusing on Indian and broadly South Asian heritage, Sahapedia is set to be launched on April 23.

Making full use of modern design and technology, Sahapedia will enable its users to experience the subcontinent's culture from ancient times till date in a comprehensive manner.

"It is an interactive online encyclopedia encompassing the histories, arts and cultures," said Sahapedia executive director Sudha Gopalakrishnan.

"We would serve as an ever-growing resource being enriched by a team of researchers in collaboration with experts and institutions," she added.

The goal is to "inform, educate and act" on subjects such as knowledge traditions, visual and material arts, performing arts, literature and languages, practices and rituals, histories, institutions, people, built spaces and natural environment, she explained.

With a goal to inform, educate and act on subjects such as knowledge traditions, visual and material arts, performing arts, literature and languages, practices and rituals, histories etc, www.sahapedia.org will be beneficial to scholars, practitioners, students, teachers, travellers and enthusiasts.

Gopalakrishnan noted that traditional performances or festivals in India are not isolated events but part of a larger cultural environment.

"Sahapedia's content on each of the topics includes text articles, images, audio-video records, maps, timelines, lineage trees and much more," she said.

Any Sahapedia module will typically feature contents and tools backed by participatory content creation, scholarly and archival material, research and editorial matter, institutional partnerships, workspace and multiple languages.

"We aim to foster knowledge-sharing, encourage engagement and generate action towards understanding and revitalising the diverse aspects of culture," added Gopalakrishnan.