Beirut: Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee underscored India's cultural and civilizational heritage as one of its most enduring contributions to the world, describing it as a living, dynamic tradition shaped by centuries of interaction, exchange, and resilience.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, in a wide-ranging reflection on history and culture, Mukherjee stressed that understanding India's civilisation requires moving beyond static interpretations. Citing historian E. H. Carr, she recalled his assertion that history is a continuous dialogue between the past and the present, shaped by interpretation rather than mere accumulation of facts. She also referenced Edward Said, whose work on culture and imperialism highlighted how all cultures are inherently hybrid, interconnected, and shaped through contact-an idea she said aptly describes India's own cultural experience.
Mukherjee noted that during the colonial era, European powers sought to undermine and belittle India's heritage, promoting notions of cultural superiority. However, authoritative scholarship, including A. L. Basham's The Wonder That Was India, has firmly rejected earlier Western portrayals of Indian civilisation as unchanging or purely spiritual, instead emphasizing its political, social, and cultural dynamism, as well as the richness of its oral traditions.
Tracing India's civilisational development from the Indus and Ganges river valleys, Mukherjee pointed out that despite geographic boundaries, India was never isolated. Trade, migration, and maritime exchanges linked it to East and West, resulting in a multi-dimensional culture reflected in art, architecture, and literature-from the Gandhara school's Greco-influenced Buddhist sculptures to the great temples of North and South India. The Vedic period, she said, laid literary foundations through the Rig Veda, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata.
While acknowledging the severe impact of invasions from the 10th century onwards, including the destruction of temples such as Somnath, Mukherjee emphasized that India's culture endured and adapted. She highlighted the emergence of Indo-Islamic art and architecture during the Mughal period as a powerful example of syncretism, with the Taj Mahal standing as its most celebrated symbol.
Mukherjee further stressed the central role of the Indian diaspora in carrying this heritage worldwide, describing culture as a unifying force that connects communities, builds relationships, and helps heal historical and political ruptures. She noted that India's ancient concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam-the world as one family-anticipates modern ideas of global citizenship and aligns with the mission of organizations such as UNESCO.
Highlighting cultural diplomacy as an increasingly important tool in global engagement, Mukherjee pointed to the worldwide appeal of Indian arts and spirituality, including yoga. She recalled that at the initiative of Narendra Modi, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga, reflecting India's soft-power reach.
Concluding her remarks, Mukherjee emphasized that preserving India's composite culture remains a shared responsibility, particularly toward younger generations and the diaspora. Recalling her visit to Visva-Bharati University, she quoted Rabindranath Tagore's message on India's duty to offer the best of its culture to the world while remaining open to learning from others.
"India's composite culture is our gift to the world," Mukherjee said, adding that it reflects a civilisation that has absorbed diverse influences without losing its core identity-a legacy she said India will continue to uphold for generations to come.