A PEOPLE'S TRIBUTE: Zubeen Garg’s Unprecedented Cultural Congregation

October 2025 unfolds as a defining moment for Indian arts — where celebration meets structure, and tradition is strengthened through collaboration. While the festive calendar brings with it the splendour of Durga Puja, Navratri, Dussehra, Ramlila traditions, and regional harvest festivals, this year also marks a visible shift in how cultural ecosystems across India are being formally supported, documented, and sustained.

In September and October 2025, the sudden passing of beloved Assamese artiste Zubeen Garg sparked one of the most profound public expressions of empathy and cultural unity in recent Indian memory. His funeral procession in Guwahati drew massive crowds — estimated in the hundreds of thousands and recognised as one of the largest public gatherings for a cultural figure in India, earning mention alongside global icons in the Limca Book of Records.Fans, fellow musicians, community groups, and cultural associations lined the streets for hours to pay their respects, offering flowers, gamusas (traditional Assamese scarves), and spontaneous musical tributes that transformed urban spaces into collective memorials of shared emotion and artistic appreciation. Beyond the farewell itself, the cultural impact has continued through public tributes, rallies, and collaborative performances across Assam and the wider Northeast. On October 19 in Guwahati, a tribute and justice rally united political organisations, cultural bodies, and citizen groups in a peaceful gathering to celebrate his legacy and call for dignity in public discourse surrounding his life and death. Universities and cultural institutions also integrated Garg’s influence into formal events — for instance, Assam Down Town University concluded its ICSTIP-2025 conference with a heartfelt musical homage, showcasing traditional and contemporary performances in his honour alongside international delegates. Such events reflect how his work bridged grassroots creativity and institutional recognition.

This outpouring of universal affection underscores how Indian arts can resonate far beyond performance — becoming symbols of identity, empathy, and collective memory that bring people together in shared humanity and cultural pride.

Across states, festival-linked cultural programming has increasingly been backed by institutional partnerships and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). Universities dedicated to music, dance, theatre, and visual arts have entered collaborative agreements with cultural academies, museums, and research bodies to promote curriculum exchange, archival research, joint festivals, and artist training programmes. Such MoUs are enabling students and practitioners to engage directly with living traditions during large public festivals, rather than limiting learning to classrooms alone. Several state cultural departments, working in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, have aligned festival celebrations with initiatives focused on artisan welfare, folk documentation, and heritage conservation. Idol makers, traditional sculptors, stage designers, mask makers, textile artists, and folk performers are increasingly being supported through curated marketplaces, grants, and exhibition platforms tied to October festivities. These collaborations ensure that celebration translates into livelihood security and intergenerational knowledge transfer.

October also witnesses growing CSR-led cultural collaborations, where corporate foundations partner with cultural trusts and festival committees to support classical concerts, theatre productions, heritage walks, and community art projects. These partnerships are not only funding performances, but also enabling accessibility through free public events, inclusive programming, and youth-focused outreach.

On the international front, India’s festive season has become an anchor for cultural diplomacy and global exchange. MoUs between Indian cultural institutions and foreign cultural missions have facilitated collaborative performances, travelling exhibitions, and artist residencies that coincide with festival months. Through these exchanges, Indian classical and folk traditions are presented on global platforms, while international artistic perspectives find resonance within Indian festivals.

Museums, galleries, and contemporary art spaces across metros and regional centres have curated festival-themed exhibitions exploring mythology, feminine power, oral traditions, and ritual aesthetics. Many of these initiatives are outcomes of cross-institutional collaboration — between historians, artists, designers, and researchers — reflecting a holistic approach to cultural storytelling.

This October issue acknowledges that Indian arts today thrive through a careful balance of devotion and design, celebration and policy. Festivals remain the heartbeat of cultural life, but it is the growing network of MoUs, institutional alliances, public–private partnerships, and community participation that ensures their continuity and relevance.

As lamps are lit and stages are set across the country, October 2025 reminds us that culture flourishes not only through faith and festivity, but through foresight, collaboration, and shared responsibility.