Bharat: Mother of Democracy

Ministry of Culture, Government of India curated an exhibition on 'Bharat: The Mother of Democracy' for G20 Summit during 9-10 September 2023 held in New Delhi. The curated experience showcased the democratic traditions of our country. The project was supported by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

Democracy is an age-old concept in India. As per the Indian ethos, democracy comprises the values of freedom, acceptability, equality, and inclusivity in a society and allow its common citizens to lead a quality and dignified life. The Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, the earliest available sacred texts refer to participatory institutions like the Sabha, Samiti, and Sansad, the last term being still in currency denoting our parliament.The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the great epics of this land, also talk about involving people in decision-making. There are also found in Indian textual instances that the authority to govern is earned through merit or common consensus and is not hereditary. There has been constant discourse on the legitimacy of the voter in various democratic institutions such as the Parishad and Samiti. The Indian democracy is truly a festive proclamation of veracity, cooperation, collaboration, peace, sympathy and collective strength of the people.

As part of the exhibition, a booklet titled- Bharat The Mother of Democracy was published in the following languages.

1. English
2. Hindi
3. Russian
4. Chinese
5. Spanish
6. Arabic
7. French
8. Portuguese
9. German
10. Italian
11. Bahasa (Indonesian)
12. Japanese
13. Korean
14. Turkic
15. Dutch
16. Bangla

The booklet shows the journey of the democratic ethos of Bharat through a timeline followed by the themes given below:

In synchronization with the central theme of Bharat’s presidency of the G20 Summit, VasudaivaKutumbkam, the booklet has been an attempt to present the inclusive nature of Bharat’s political, spiritual and cultural thought through the ages, before the world.

As part of the exhibition, a thematic website was also created. This website can be reached by scanning the QR Code. The website contains the downloadable booklet in 16 international languages and a 5 minute film on the subject. The film explores Bharat's democratic worldview, tracing its evolution from Sindhu Saraswati civilization to the present day.

Brochure: Bharat: Mother of Democracy (English Brochure)

Trailer

Website