A three-day conference in New Delhi revisits India's historical cultural links across Asia on the hundredth anniversary of the Greater India Society, founded in Calcutta in 1926.

BulletsIn

• The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, under the Ministry of Culture, is hosting the Brihattar Bharat conference on India's cultural connections at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, from 14 to 16 October 2026.
• The conference marks the centenary of the Greater India Society, also called Brihattar Bharat Parishad, established in Calcutta on 14 October 1926.
• Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was the spiritual guide of the Greater India Society.
• Delegates, ambassadors and scholars from 50 countries are expected to attend.
• Brihattar Bharat refers to the wider civilisational sphere shaped by the spread and adaptation of Indian cultural, philosophical, artistic, linguistic and religious traditions across regions.
• Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat stressed that a civilisation's influence is not measured only by territorial boundaries.
• In a message for the inaugural session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said centres of learning such as Nalanda strengthened the exchange of knowledge between India and other parts of Asia.
• The conference is organised under the Brihattar Bharat Scheme (2026-2031), run by the arts centre under the ministry's Global Engagement Scheme.
• It will encourage joint research and publications and explore joint nominations for UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme and multinational nominations for Intangible Cultural Heritage.
• It also backs a proposed Brihattar Bharat Portal for documenting, preserving and sharing this heritage globally.