INTACH Launches Project Gaja-Lok

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has launched Project Gaja-Lok: Elephant Lands and their Cultural Symbolism in Asia, a first-of-its-kind transnational programme.

• The project aims to explore and document the deep-rooted connections between Asian elephants and human civilizations across the continent.

• Focus on Culture, History, Ecology, and Climate Resilience

• Gaja-Lok highlights how elephants have influenced culture, history, ecology, and climate resilience over millennia.
• It underscores the intertwined narratives that position the elephant as both a cultural icon and an ecological keystone.

• Millennia-Old Human–Elephant Relationship

• Elephants have long shaped Asian art, spirituality, and daily life.
• References range from the Arthaśāstra to Buddhist and Jain traditions, as well as depictions in royal courts and temple architecture across Southeast Asia.

• Gaja-Lok Exhibition: Tracing the Elephant’s Journey

• The exhibition showcases artifacts reflecting the elephant’s enduring symbolic and practical role.
• Items include Indus Valley seals, Bharhut railings, and statues from the Konark Temple.
• Displays illustrate elephants’ influence on spiritual, artistic, and political dimensions of Asian civilizations.

• Celebrating a Sacred Bond

• Project Gaja-Lok seeks to honour the ancient and sacred bond between humans and elephants.
• It emphasizes the need to protect this relationship in the context of contemporary ecological and cultural challenges.

Source: PIB