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Infosys Foundation Joins Hands with ‘Sahapedia’ to Promote a Penchant for Cultural and Historical Knowledge of India Among the Masses
Bangalore – April 17, 2017: Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, has announced a partnership with Sahapedia, an open online resource, to support the development of an online interactive web module on the arts, culture and histories of India. The partnership fosters the Foundation’s conviction that investing in building cultural infrastructures that are far-reaching and inclusive has the ability to build a nobler society
Through this association with Sahapedia, a non-profit organization, the Foundation aims to provide content comprised of multimedia modules made up of articles, interviews, photographs, performance videos timelines, walkthroughs and bibliographies thereby assimilating a rich experience of Indian history and culture on the web. The Foundation has offered a corpus grant of INR 2 Crores invested for a period of 25 years towards this ingenious initiative that will facilitate dynamic access to rich content, and promote dialogue among members of different communities and groups.
An effort intended to benefit at least 10,00,000 users by 2019-2020, is aspired to become a forum for advocacy in the area of heritage conservation and revitalization. The two organizations will also strive to bring this valuable cultural wealth to rural and urban schools as an educational tool, and use the internet medium and offline resources to enable heritage education.
Speaking on the collaboration, Mrs. Sudha Murty, Chairperson – Infosys Foundation said, "The richest cultural wealth of India is in a state of slow disintegration – both in the physical state as well as in terms of memory preservation and knowledge transfer from one generation to the other. Sahapedia is undoubtedly a redeeming initiative to preserve and conserve the wonder-inspiring richness of Indian history, along with generating and sharing knowledge among a wide audience. We are proud of our partnership with Sahapedia and look forward to jointly positioning the effort as a unique educational experience and toolkit for engagement with the local heritage."
Dr. Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director of Sahapedia, talking about the partnership said, "India has, for long, had a vibrant diversity of arts, practices and knowledge systems. At the moment, I believe there is increasing interest in and a need for making this traditional knowledge available for a wider public than the immediate community and this is what Sahapedia fosters. The Infosys Foundation has always supported projects that promise substantial social impact and we are delighted to partner with them in our mission to ensure that future generations have access to past knowledge. It is vital in the coming decades that CSR initiatives partner with culture-bearers and researchers, and we are confident that our collaboration with Infosys Foundation will instantiate the rich rewards such partnerships can reap for India."
Featured Stories on Sahapedia
Shiber Gajon, a pre-harvest festival celebrated in Bengal during the month of Caitra to restore moisture to the soil, with elaborate rituals of self-mortification, and dramatizations of stories of Shiva. See more in the image gallery for Shiber Gajon. Photograph by Arnab Bhaumik for Sahapedia.
Bihu, originally associated and celebrated by the agrarian community, has become a part and parcel of the Assamese community. There are three forms of Bihu: Rongali or Bohag Bihu (festival of happiness), Kongali or Kati Bihu (festival of scarcity) and Bhogali or Magh Bihu (festival of feasting). View a video of the Husori ritual during Bohag Bihu in Assam. Photograph by Debojeet Borah for Sahapedia.
Poorakkali, a spring festival celebrated in northern Kerala through fertility cults, song and dance, and philosophical debate. Photograph by Ayan Ghosh for Sahapedia.
Karaga, an annual fertility rite associated with the cult of Draupadi, celebrated by the Tigala (market gardener) community in Bengaluru, which includes a ritual procession through the city. Photograph by Ananth Shayan for Sahapedia
