Project ‘Mausam’ is the initiative of Ministry of Culture to be implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the nodal agency with research support of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Museum as associate bodies. This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’–collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean. It also aims to promote research on themes related to the study of Maritime Routes. Main objective of the project is to inscribe places and sites identified under Project Mausam as trans-national nomination for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

A fund of  Rs. 150,244,502/- was approved by Ministry of Culture for two years i.e. 2015-16 & 2016-17 out of which Rs. 3,22,02,881/- was transferred to IGNCA. An amount of Rs.12,26,362/- is utilized.

The project was launched in June, 2014 during 38^th session of the World Heritage Committee. An SFC was approved in April, 2015 for 2 years i.e. 2015-16 and 2016-17. Some of the major achievements are: -

       I.       A national conference organized by ASI and Kerala Tourism in November, 2014 at Kochi, Kerala.

    II.       Exhibition on Unearthing Pattanam; Histories, Cultures and Crossings at National Museum in November, 2014.

 III.       Seventeen lectures were held on various themes related to Project Mausam by IGNCA

 IV.       An exhibition on ‘Africans in India: A rediscovery’ in IGNCA.

    V.       Symposium on ‘Maritime culture of India and its potential’ in January, 2017.

Indian mission in identified countries have been requested to identify appropriate authorities/resource person/experts to initiate a dialogue but only a few have responded with necessary information.

The list of countries identified under the project is given below:-

                  List of 39 Indian Ocean countries identified under Project Museum

This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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Sanjay Kumar/jk/Parl. No. 4/24-07-2017