NEW DELHI:
Axis Bank Foundation (ABF), strengthened its partnership with Sahapedia, an online encyclopaedia of Indian arts and culture, to promote and support its ‘Heritage Walks’ project. This initiative will open doors to the local communities and heritage lovers who would like to explore and learn about the heritage places in their own cities and towns.
ABF, through its Axis Cares programme will support around 300 theme based heritage experiences,which will be organised by Sahapedia in over 50 cities for a year.These programs will be designed around themes such as, Architecture, Ecology, Food and Culinary Arts, Museums, Neighborhoods and Bazaars, Textiles, Photography, Performing Arts, Handicrafts and Industrial Heritage.
In addition to hosting the Heritage Walk, Sahapedia has specially curated ‘Anubhuti’, an experience for the people who have special needs. ABF and Sahapedia will host around 100 ‘Anubhuti’ experiences for this special segment. This year, the project will be rolled out in the tier II and tier III cities like Ajmer, Nagpur, Sivasagar (Assam), Bijapur, Indore, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Bhopal, Patiala, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jajpur, Bhubaneswar,Shivpuri, Dhubri, Bhavnagar, Leh and Jabalpur, which are known for their heritage legacy.
Speaking about the partnership, Jacob Ninan, Executive Trustee and CEO, Axis Bank Foundation said, “We are glad to continue our support to Sahapedia for conducting these interesting and insightful heritage walks. It is important, that people know the legacy and appreciate our rich Indian cultural heritage. Our partnership with Sahapedia is aimed towards bringing together the local communities and heritage lovers, enabling them to cherish the legacy and heritage sites in their own cities. We at Axis Bank Foundation are doing our bit by associating with Sahapedia and other like-minded partners in the space of heritage and look forward to seeing more enthusiastic walkers attend the Heritage Walk this year.’’
“Through Sahapedia Heritage Walks programme, we seek to build an ecosystem wherein every individual, in metros, tier II and tier III cities, gets an opportunity to learn, appreciate and propagate India’s unique heritage and culture. Axis Bank Foundation will support our regular heritage walks, as well as theAnubhuti programme that includes experiences especially for children from underprivileged backgrounds and persons with disabilities (PWD)to develop an art-integrated learning system for each participant.” said Vaibhav Chauhan, Secretary, Sahapedia.
During the period of October 2017–September 2018, Sahapedia conducted 445 walks in 41 cities, which was attended by over 9000 enthusiastic walkers. Currently, there are 118 active walk leaders across the country. The Walks are led by curators who not only have in-depth knowledge of the history, culture, monuments, alleys and byways of their cities, but are also adept at storytelling and engaging in conversations. Sahapedia consistently focuses on curating unique walks that offer distinct experiences and access to lesser-known areas of the city.
Registrations for these events are free and open to all.