The Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (abbreviated as EZCC) is an autonomous organization under

Ministry of Culture (India) The Ministry of Culture is the Indian government ministry charged with preservation and promotion of art and culture of India. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the current Minister of Culture. Recently the government has established the Nationa ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

covering the states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands, an island group in the Bay of Bengal * Andaman Island, Penang, an artificial island in George Town, Penang * Andaman Sea, a sea of the eastern Indian Ocean * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), an Indian Kannada-lang ...

and

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

, registered under West Bengal Society Registration Act (Act XXVI of 1961). Its headquarters in Sector III,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, is situated in the Indian state of

, on account of Kolkata being referred to as the "Cultural Capital of India". This zone is home to three classical dances, namely,

Odissi ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...

Sattriya ''Sattriya'', or ''Sattriya Nritya'', is a major Indian classical dance. It was initially created as part of Bhaona which are performances of '' Ankiya Nat'', one-act plays, originally created by Sankardev, a 15th-16th century polymath from ...

and

Manipuri dance Manipuri dance, sometimes also referred to as the Manipuri Raas Leela (), is a jagoi and is one of the major Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur. It is one of the Meitei intangible cult ...

; types of music include the classical

Odissi music Odissi music (, ) is a genre of Indian classical music, classical music originating from the eastern state of Odisha. Rooted in the ancient ritual music tradition dedicated to the deity Jagannatha, Odissi music has a rich history spanning over ...

and semi-classical

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' (; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengalis, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the ...

. In addition, Odia is one of the classical languages in India and the only living classical language from Eastern India. Odissi Performance DS

History

The EZCC was founded in 1985 and since, has been playing a significant role in promoting the numerous ethnic cultural centres and groups of excellence of the eastern parts of the India, with the objective of projection and dissemination of the traditional culture of Eastern India.

Composition

The EZCC is composed of the following members: # Director, Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Assam # Director, Arts, Culture & Youth Affairs Department, Government of Bihar # Director, Department of Art, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Jharkhand # Commissioner (Art & Culture), Government of Manipur # Director of Culture, Government of Odisha # OSD, Cultural Affairs & Heritage Department, Government of Sikkim # Secretary & Director, ICAT, Government of Tripura # Joint Secretary & Ex-Officio, Director of Culture, Government of West Bengal # Director, Department of Art and Culture, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration.

Schemes

There are various schemes sponsored by The Ministry of Culture, Government of India gives grants to the Zonal Cultural Centers. These schemes are National Cultural Exchange Programme, Theatre rejuvenation scheme, North East Programme, Guru Shishya Parampara and young talent search. To promote the culture in youth there are many competition organise by EZCC in following fields : * Folk Music * Folk Dance * Classical Music * Classical Dance To preserve this Indian tradition, the EZCC organises various Guru Shishya Parampara schemes, which include: *

Gotipua ''Gotipua'' (Odia language, Odia- ଗୋଟିପୁଅ, pronounced ''goṭipuå'') is a traditional dance form in the state of Odisha, India, and the precursor of Odissi classical dance. It has been performed in Orissa for centuries by young ...

Dance (Odisha) * Purulia Chhau Dance (West Bengal) * Paika / Paika akhada a War Dancs from (Odisha) * Nauta (West Bengal) * Bordoishilka (Assam) *

Thang-Ta Thang Ta () is a classical Meitei traditional martial art form. It is originated from the Ancient Kangleipak (present day Manipur state). It is practised using weaponry. It is considered as the sibling of Sarit Sarak, which uses no weapons. Thang ...

Dance (Manipur) *

Bhatiali Bhatiali is a type of ancient folk music which expresses the deep feeling from the heart of a group of local and professional people. It is based on their common and natural style of expression and uninfluenced by the rules of conventional mu ...

Folk Songs (West Bengal) * Kushan Dance (Assam) * Pung cholom (Manipur) *

Maruni ''Maruni'' is a Nepalese folk dance of the Magar community. It is popular in Nepalese diasporic communities of India (Darjeeling, Assam, Sikkim) Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. It is one of the oldest and most famous dance of the Nepalese community re ...

(Sikkim) West Bengal's capital

is the largest city of this region. The states of

and

share a lot cultural and linguistic characteristics with

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and with the state of

. Together with Bangladesh,

forms the ethno-linguistic region of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, which was also a unified administrative region until 1947.

is the oldest surviving classical dance,

Pattachitra Patachitra or Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, based in the eastern Indian States and territories of India, states of Odisha, and West Bengal as well as parts of Bangladesh. Patachitra art form is known ...

the most influential ancient classical painting, classical Odishian unique ancient architecture

Kalinga architecture The Kaliṅga architectural style is a style of Hindu architecture which flourished in the ancient Kalinga previously known as Utkal and in present eastern Indian state of Odisha. The style consists of three distinct types of temples: Rekha ...

like Konark, Lingraja, lalitgiri etc. Odia is the only modern Indo-Aryan language accorded the status of a

Classical Language in India The Indian Classical languages, or the Śāstrīya Bhāṣā ''(Hindi)'' or the Dhrupadī Bhāṣā (''Assamese, Bengali'') or the Abhijāta Bhāṣā (''Marathi'') or the Cemmoḻi (''Tamil''), is an umbrella term for the languages of India ha ...

, and

is claimed to be the classical Music among Karnatik and Hindustani Music.

Other Regional Cultural Centres of India

North Zone Cultural Centre North Zone Cultural Centre or ''NZCC'' (ISO 15919, ISO: ) in Patiala in Punjab, India, Punjab state was first among several regional cultural centres established by Government of India to preserve and promote arts, crafts, traditions and cultur ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

North Central Zone Cultural Centre North Central Zone Cultural Centre or NCZCC (ISO: ) is one of seven Zonal Cultural Centres established by the Government of India to promote cultural unity and preserve the diverse heritage of the nation. Conceived under the aegis of the erst ...

Prayagraj Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

West Zone Cultural Centre The West Zone Culture Centre in Udaipur, Rajasthan is one of seven Cultural Zones of India, Cultural Zones established by the Government of India to preserve and promote India's traditional cultural heritage. The centre works to retain and devel ...

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

North East Zone Cultural Centre North East Zone Culture Centre in Chümoukedima in Nagaland state is one of many regional cultural centres established by the Indian Government to preserve and promote traditional cultural heritage of India. The North East Cultural Zone is on ...

Chümoukedima Chümoukedima (), previously spelled Chumukedima, formerly known as Samaguting, is a municipality in the Chümoukedima District of the Indian state of Nagaland. It is situated on the left bank of the Chathe and with its surrounding area that inc ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

South Zone Cultural Centre South Zone Culture Centre (abbreviated as SZCC) is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Culture (India) Govt of India, is one of the seven Zonal Cultural Centres established by Indian Government in 1986 to preserve and promote traditional ...

* South Central Zone Cultural Centre,

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

The Cultural Zones of India are seven overlapping zones defined by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

of the

to promote and preserve the

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

of various regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

References

External links

{{Cultural Zones of India Culture of Kolkata 1986 establishments in West Bengal Cultural centres in India Cultural organisations based in India Arts organizations established in 1986 Ministry of Culture (India)