About this Site

The Bhutan Cultural Atlas is a UNESCO cultural mapping initiative to preserve the world’s intangible and tangible assets.

Identifying and understanding local cultural assets is a vital primary step linking culture and community development. Cultural mapping in the context of the present project consists of surveying; inventorying and locating cultural resources on the map thereby optimizing the existing culture background of the country.

UNESCO-New Delhi Culture Team has undertaken a series of pilot “Cultural Mapping initiatives” in India and Bhutan in line with UNESCO’s two Action Lines: Promotion of the Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Development of Cultural Industries and Strengthening Partnership.

In Bhutan, the district of Bumthang was chosen as a pilot project and the project implementing agency is the Institute of Language and Culture Studies (ILCS), Royal University of Bhutan.