Unveiled in 2019, the Government’s Indian Culture Portal (www.indianculture.gov.in) is now a digital treasure trove showcasing more than 2.98 lakh digital artefacts and paintings, and over 34 lakh bibliographic..
A one-stop source of information related to history, heritage and culture of the country, the disabled-friendly portal is currently available in English and Hindi and can be accessed through an App called `Indian Culture’, available on both Android phones and iPhone.
The portal is part of the Union Culture Ministry’s National Virtual Library of India (NVLI) set up in collaboration with IIT, Mumbai and IGNOU which have curated the data.
“The objective of NVLI is to provide a platform for the digital preservation of diverse cultural artifacts and to create awareness and a sense of collective ownership among citizens about their shared heritage,” said Union Minister of Culture and Tourism G.Kishan Reddy in the Lok Sabha recently.
The content is presented in 28 categories such as rare books, e- Books, archives, paintings, stories, snippets, historical cities and forts, etc, he said adding, “it has become a platform that hosts data of cultural relevance from various repositories and institutions all over India.”
“It is an all-inclusive digital platform- to provide access to multiple cultural resources such as the national and state archives, libraries and district gazetteers which will cater to all sections of the society,” he added.
Talking about its key feature, the Minister said that people have free access to archival resources and documents as well as can easily navigate the portal that allows the user to reach the desired result quicker. It hosts data of cultural relevance from various repositories and institutions all over India
Also, the portal has specific features and functionalities that allow the visually impaired to read and access the portal without difficulty. Rare Books on the portal are also downloadable while content related to history, heritage and culture is written in an easy to read format to cater to people from all walks of life,” he added.
Union Ministry of Culture set up the National Mission on Libraries in 2012 to ensure sustained attention to the development of Libraries and the Information Science Sector.
The NVLI, a project whose purpose is to facilitate the creation of a searchable comprehensive database of digital resources on information pertaining to India has been set up under the National Mission on Libraries. The Culture Ministry had set up the Mission in 2012 to ensure sustained attention to the development of libraries and the information science sector.