Heritage walk to recall Partition stories

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 21

The India Heritage Walk Festival, an event that helps reconnect with the country's rich heritage and cultural history, in collaboration with the Partition Museum, will host a 'heritage walk as a part of this year's theme.

The Partition Museum is the world's first museum dedicated to the 1947 Partition. It aims to tell the stories of millions who were impacted by the Partition through oral histories, archival materials and objects donated by survivors. It houses intangible and tangible aspects of Punjab's heritage.

This is the third edition of the festival and has been conceptualised by Sahapedia, a website which seeks to make the culture and history of India accessible to all.

The month-long festival will showcase monuments, markets, landscapes and cuisine from several cities, including Kolkata, Varanasi, Goa and Chennai. In the city, the walk will commence at Partition Museum on Saturday with stories of love and longing from 1947.

The heritage walk, especially curated by the museum, will be led by Rajwinder Kaur, who will guide the attendees through the museums archives and collections of objects from homes left on the other side of the Border. Each object at the museum has a story attached to it and reflects the material culture of the people of the undivided India.

The second part of the heritage walk will be conducted at Jandiala Guru, home to once-popular Thatheras craftsmen. Listed on the UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, the Thateras are struggling for revival. The tour will be organised in collaboration with P-Tal, an organisation working towards the revival of Thathera craft and The Craft Catapult, a platform engaged in encouraging start ups in the revival of crafts.