Art & Culture
Heritage, archaeology, literature and cultural institutions
NCERT to restore original ‘Dancing Girl’ of Mohenjo-daro in class IX textbooks
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has announced that it will restore the original, unaltered image of the Dancing Girl of Moh...
Amid debate over Adivasi identity, recalling the icon who helped define it: Birsa Munda
The debate over Adivasi identity in contemporary India has renewed focus on Birsa Munda, the 19th-century Munda tribal leader whose movement remains the foun...
Modi hails 17 new agreements, says India-Netherlands ties will gain ‘unparalleled momentum’
During the India-Netherlands state visit on 16–17 May 2026, two headline outcomes stood out: the signing of an MoU between Tata Electronics and ASML for Indi...
Return of Leiden copper plates should spark efforts for further repatriations, say Indian archaeologists
The Netherlands formally returned the Anaimangalam copper plates — also known as the Leiden copper plates — to India on 16 May 2026 during an official diplom...
Chola-era Anaimangalam Plates, in possession of Leiden University since 1862, returned to India
The Chola-era Anaimangalam Copper Plates, held by Leiden University in the Netherlands since 1862, were formally handed over to India at a ceremony in The Ha...
Netherlands returns 11th Century 'Chola Plates', PM Modi says 'joyous moment for every Indian'
The return of the 11th-century Anaimangalam Chola copper plates by the Netherlands marks the culmination of a diplomatic effort initiated in 2012 — spanning ...
Netherlands returns Chola-era copper plates to India during PM Modi’s visit
The Netherlands formally returned the Anaimangalam copper plates — approximately 1,000-year-old artefacts from the Chola dynasty — to India during an officia...
Amid PM visit, Netherlands returns Chola-era plates after 14-yr diplomatic effort
During an official bilateral visit, the Dutch government formally returned a set of 11th-century Chola copper plates that had been held by Leiden University ...
Netherlands to return Chola-era copper plates during Modi visit. It’s culmination of a 14-yr effort
The Netherlands' return of the Anaimangalam Chola copper plates — held at Leiden University for over 300 years — illustrates the complex legal and diplomatic...
PM Modi in Netherlands LIVE: Netherlands hands back Chola dynasty copper plates to India
The Netherlands formally returned 21 copper plates dating to the 11th-century Chola dynasty to India during a state visit, marking one of the most significan...
Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex declared as temple by Madhya Pradesh High Court
On 15 May 2026, the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court delivered a 242-page judgment declaring the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar (Madhya P...
Celebrating the Return of India’s Lost Cultural Heritage: Union Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Addresses Press Meet at National Museum
India repatriated three significant Chola and Vijayanagara-period bronze sculptures from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington D.C., r...
Cabinet okays plan to put Vande Mataram on a par with Jana Gana Mana
The Union Cabinet approved an amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, to extend its protections to Vande Mataram, India's nation...
On first Ladakh visit since violence, Amit Shah to join exposition of holy relics of Lord Buddha in Leh
A first-ever exposition of holy relics of Lord Buddha was held at the Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra in Leh, Ladakh, marking a historically and culturally significa...
US restitutes 657 stolen antiquities to India
The United States restituted a cumulative total of 657 stolen antiquities to India, valued at approximately $14 million (about ₹116 crore), in a repatriation...
A tangled tale of Tangail: How sarees wove a diplomatic knot between India and Bangladesh
A saree exhibition at Bangladesh's High Commission in New Delhi sparked diplomatic tension when India allegedly declined permission to use the Travancore Hou...
ASI begins drilling into Konark Sun Temple to remove 100-year-old British-era sand
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has begun drilling into the Jagamohan (assembly hall) of the 13th-century Konark Sun Temple in Odisha to extract san...
Why has Punjab introduced a new law on sacrilege?
The Punjab Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — an anti-sacrilege law prescribing lif...
Meghalaya approves Khasi, Garo as official state languages alongside English
On April 16, 2026, the Meghalaya Cabinet approved the Meghalaya Official Languages Ordinance, 2026, declaring Khasi and Garo as official state languages alon...
Bicentenary of Jyotiba Phule: Two-year nationwide celebrations launched
The Government of India formally launched a two-year nationwide commemoration (April 2026 to April 2028) to mark the 200th birth anniversary of social reform...