Thanks to its great cultural heritage India holds a special position. And its voice likewise the mission of great Gandhi should be the voice of Peace, declaration of supreme values and ever expanding horizons.
Svetoslav Roerich
This year is the 85th anniversary of signing the Roerich Pact – a unique international legal document, aimed at protection of cultural property. It was signed on 15th April 1935 in Washington and became the only agreement in the field of culture protection accepted by a part of international society before the World War II.
The initiator and the author of the Pact was Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian artist, scientist, thinker, humanist (1874-1947). Roerich with his family lived in India, in sacred Himalayan Kullu Valley for about 20 years and always loved India and considered it as his adopted country. This was the place where Nicholas Roerich created a project of the Pact for the protection of cultural properties. Having understood the importance of the Pact ideas India was one of the first countries that took a fervent interest in the Pact and upheld appeal of Roerich: Peace through Culture. In 1946 The Sixth All-India Cultural Unity Conference signified approval to the Pact and in 1948 the document was approved by the Government of India led by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime-minister.
Nowadays The Roerich Pact for the protection of cultural properties not only keeps its importance but even becomes more actual. For the purposes of distribution of the ideas of the Pact and Banner of Peace the International Centre of the Roerichs (Moscow) has organized a major international exhibition project “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” where India is one of the most significant milestones on its route.
The project started in 2012 in UNESCO Headquarters in Paris where on 2nd April the inauguration of the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” took place. The exhibition was organized by Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation and India to UNESCO together with the International Centre of the Roerichs with support of Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and UNESCO.
In two years after visiting countries of Europe and Latin America, the exhibition project of ICR arrived to India, in the city of Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh. The solemn inauguration of the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” took place in the Art Gallery in the building of the famous Gaiety theatre. The main guest of the ceremony was the Chief Minister of the State of Himachal Pradesh, the President of the International Roerich Memorial Trust in Naggar Mr. Virbhadra Singh. The Chief Minister stressed the importance of the Roerich Pact for preserving treasures of the world culture and described in detail the history of India joining to the Pact. He noticed that prominent figures of India such as Rabindranath Tagore, J. Bose, S.Radhakrishnan, C.V.Raman and many others warmly supported the idea of Nicholas Roerich.
Him Chatterjee, a famous artist, the chair professor of visual arts of the Shimla University mentioned in his speech: “The more I study Nicholas Roerich the more I bow before his art; the more I watch his paintings the more I perfect myself on the way of the spirit evolution. The whole mankind owes the peace-support initiative of Nicholas Roerich for preserving the cultural heritage. Today thanks to the opening of this exhibition we feel the importance of putting his ideas into practice”.
Mr. Shakti Singh Chandel, life trustee of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT) called the Pact as “a great gift of Nicholas Roerich to the humankind”. Mr. Chandel described in detail the history of establishing two organizations by Dr. Svetoslav Roerich – IRMT in Naggar and ICR in Moscow and perspectives of their collaboration.
It must be noticed that there were two exhibitions arrived to India: the first one was for exhibition tour through the cities and the second one was especially for the museum complex of the International Roerich Memorial Trust in Naggar. The official inauguration of a new permanent exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” took place in IRMT, memorial Roerichs Estate on 12th July. Mr. Rakesh Kanwar, Deputy Commissioner of Kullu and Director of the International Roerich Memorial Trust with his wife and representatives of the local cultural elite came for the inauguration in Naggar. Mr. Rakesh Kanwar congratulated the Russian and Indian staff of the Trust with remarkable results and expressed confidence that the joint fruitful work on the development of the International Roerich Memorial Trust in compliance with the Agreement of Cooperation between IRMT and ICR executed on 2nd October 2012 would allow to turn IRMT into a center of culture, science and art.
Started in sacred Himalayas the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” continued its way through India and was inaugurated on 9th September 2014 in the city of Chandigarh, the capital of two states – Punjab and Haryana in the Sobha Singh Art Gallery. The organizer of the exhibition was Punjab Lalit Kala Academy of Fine Arts. The major organizer from Indian side was the Secretary of the Academy, an artist, prof. Sadna Sangar. B.D. Tandon, the Chhattisgarh State Governor, the honored guest of the exhibition in his welcoming speech pointed out the symbolism of the fact that exactly in the sacred Himalayan mountains Nicholas Roerich worked on the Pact. B.H. Cor, the Head of the Punjab Arts Council said: “India loves and highly respects Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian artist, his paintings are in our museums; the ideas of the Pact for protection of culture resonate with hearts of Indian people”.
On behalf of the International Centre of the Roerichs and The International Roerichs’ Heritage Preservation Committee L.V. Surgina, the ICR stuffer and the Russian Curator of IRMT in Naggar solemnly handed over the Banner of Peace to the Heads of the Punjab Lalit Kala Academy: “Let it flutter above the Lalit Kala Academy over Chandigarh strengthening the foundations of Culture, of peace and mutual understanding between our peoples and all peoples of the Earth”.
In 2015 the exhibition project arrived in the city of Gandhinagar, the contemporary capital of Gujarat. The organizer was the Indian Legal History Museum of the Gujarat national Law University and its initiator was Indubala Nahakpam, Doctor of Law, the Head and Curator of the Museum. The exhibition was opened on 6th January 2015. “Roerich is a legend, worked for peace and harmony, - said O.P. Kohli, Governor of Gujarat in his welcoming speech. – He believed that peace on the Earth through understanding of alliance of beauty and knowledge was a prerequisite of planetary survival and continuing of spiritual evolution”.
Prof. Bimal Patel, the Director of the University gave a talk showed a deep understanding of evolution ideas. In accordance with his words, the Roerich Pact was the first historical step towards development of a new legal culture of the 21st century. The conceptual provisions of Roerich’s philosophical and legal concept of the state are based on the rules according to higher law, logic of the worldwide being evolution.
15th May 2015 the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” continued its work in New Delhi, the Indian capital, in the Azad Bhavan Art Gallery of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
A.M. Kadakin, the Ambassador of Russia to India, Vice-President of the International Roerich Memorial Trust in his talk expressed hope that “the exhibition would become a one more stimulus to develop and preserve the Roerich Estate in Naggar in the Himalayan Kullu Valley and turn it into a key point of the Indo-Russian cultural cooperation, museum, research and educational center in accordance with the world standards”.
Dear friends, the members of the International Roerich Memorial Trust greet all of you who feel related to the ideas of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace on the anniversary!
“Culture and Peace — the most sacred goal of the Humanity, - wrote Nicholas Roerich. – in the days of great confusion, both material and spiritual, the disturbed spirit strives to these radiant strongholds. But we should not unite only abstractly in the name of these regenerating conceptions. According to our abilities, each in his own field, should bring them into actual surrounding life, as the most necessary and undeferrable”.
The Banner of Peace continues its movement on the planet. It also flutters over the Himalayan Roerich’s Estate. And today, in the days of 85th anniversary of the Pact and Banner let us remember Nicholas Roerich appeal: “Verily, time is short, lose neither day nor hour! Kindle the flame of the heart in unbreakable enthusiasm. Under the Banner of Peace let us proceed towards the One Supreme Light in powerful union as the World League of Culture!”
At the official ceremony along with other honored guests, V.S. Oberoi, Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO had a welcoming speech. He said that India from the very beginning welcomed the Roerichs family with big love and respect and also he marked their selfless work for the sake of peace.
Due to the higher logic, the primary duty of a state is to sustain and develop the spiritual unity of the citizens preserving carefully the best specimens of the national culture, promoting development of universal culture and encouraging spiritual growth of all people especially the youth, - said the Director.
From Indian side the honored guest of the exhibition was Prof. Lokesh Chandra, the President of the ICCR, a renowned scholar of Buddhism. “Nicholas Roerich and his sons were deeply anguished by the condition of culture and that anguish became a poem of their quest, a poem of humanity”. – said Lokesh Chandra in his speech. And he added: “The Roerich Pact is a dream of entire mankind and at the same time an endless search of essence”.
