DUSHANBE, October 2, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Navrouz holiday marking the beginning of spring across a vast geographical area covering, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Pakistan, Turkey and other countries has been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  It is celebrated on 21 March every year, a date originally determined by astronomical calculations.

According to the UN News Center, together with tango, dances of the Ainu in Japan, the Ashiqs in Azerbaijan and Korean and Tibetan ethnic groups in China, and others from Réunion island, India, Mexico and the Republic of Korea (ROK) it joined a host of cultural elements ranging from France’s Aubusson tapestries to Holy Week processions in Popayán, Colombia, to be added to the list.

In all, 76 cultural elements were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, chosen by the 24 Member States of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage at its fourth session in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on September 30.

The list was inaugurated last November in accordance with UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which seeks to protect the world’s oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, craftsmanship and knowledge of nature.

The inscriptions ranged from religious ceremonies, like the Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges, Belgium, the Panagyr ritual on the feast days of Saints Constantine and Helena in Bulgari, Bulgaria, and religious ritual theatre in the Garhwal Himalayas, India, to lace making in Croatia, a masked end-of-winter carnival in Mohács, Hungary, and the Voladores (‘flying men’) fertility dance of ethnic groups in Mexico and Central America.

The inscriptions comprise cultural elements from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the ROK, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam.