Brihattar Bharat Conference Opens at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi

A three-day international conference titled Bharat's Cultural Connections across the Globe was inaugurated at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism. The host is the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, and the sittings run from 14 to 16 October 2026.

The centenary being marked

The conference marks a hundred years of the Greater India Society, which was set up in Calcutta on 14 October 1926 and did much to build the study of India's cultural and intellectual ties with Asia and the wider world. The Prime Minister's message for the occasion was read out by Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal, who also gave the introductory address.

What the Prime Minister's message said

The message held that the country's civilisational story has for centuries been one of exchange. Seats of learning such as Nalanda deepened the traffic of knowledge between India and the rest of Asia, while monks, scholars, traders and travellers carried Indian thought outward along land and sea routes. The message noted that the dialogue continues through philosophy, music, dance, literature, cinema and food, and that the spread of yoga and of Indian festivals abroad shows how old knowledge traditions still link societies.

What the ministers and officials said

Shekhawat argued that Brihattar Bharat must be read not as a political or territorial claim but as a wide field of cultural and historical connection, and that culture should join the world rather than divide it; even where political ties turn difficult or language blocks the way, evidence-based research can keep a conversation alive. Vivek Aggarwal said the Brihattar Bharat Project seeks international recognition for India's old cultural links through collaborative research drawing scholars from around 51 countries, with a structured five-year agenda of academic exchange and plans for multinational nominations of shared intangible heritage to UNESCO's Representative List. IGNCA Member Secretary Sachchidanand Joshi, giving the welcome address, said civilisations are shaped as much by journeys of ideas as by geography. Joint Secretary Arvind Kumar proposed the vote of thanks, and Dharm Chand Choubey, who heads the Brihattar Bharat Division at IGNCA, was present.

Exhibition and plenary

An exhibition called Asia's Shared Cultural Heritage was mounted alongside, showing the heritage India shares with other Asian countries. Before the inaugural session a plenary was chaired by Ambassador Shashank, former Foreign Secretary, with the Ambassador of Lithuania Diana Mickeviciene, the High Commissioner of Fiji Jagnnath Sami, Joint Secretary Lily Pandeya and former diplomat and author T. C. A. Raghavan as speakers.

Scheme and themes

The deliberations are spread over ten themes covering philosophy, religion, languages, arts, textiles, cuisine, performing arts, trade and diaspora communities. The work sits under the Brihattar Bharat Scheme (2026-2031), an initiative of the International Cultural Relations Division of the Ministry of Culture implemented by IGNCA, which aims at joint research, documentation, digitisation and preservation of shared heritage.