World Heritage Day–2026 was celebrated by Cooch Behar Archive (CBA) through its new initiative – ‘Talks on Heritage with Emphasis on Cooch Behar: What the Young Generation Thinks’ at its official address at the historical house of the Folklorist and Researcher late Harish Chandra Paul, at 49, Sunity Road, Cooch Behar. The programme was inaugurated on about 05:00 PM by lighting the lamp by our honourable guest, Dr. Madhuparna Mitra Guha, Associate Professor of History, University B.T. & Evening College, Cooch Behar. The Welcome Speech was delivered by Mr. Monosij Sen, Executive Member, CBA. This was followed by a brief felicitation of Dr. Madhuparna Mitra Guha, after which she kindly delivered a Speech on ‘World Heritage Day and the Heritage of Cooch Behar: Our Duty and Delights’; her talk emphasised the multitude of ‘heritage’ as a subject, its various aspects from local to a global approach and the significance of preserving heritage, with instances and examples from Cooch Behar.
Her speech was followed by the talks delivered by the students. Eight Schools throughout the District, namely, – Khagrabari Harendra Chandra Vidya Mandir High School, Vivekananda Vidyapeeth (HS), Gopalpur High School, Manindra Nath High School, Epic Public School, Maharani Indira Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Techno India Group Public Schools and Sadar Government High School participated in the programme. From which a total number of seventeen selected students studying in 9th–12th standards participated in the competition. The programme also included an exclusive exhibition entitled ‘Cooch Behar Heritage: Through Archives’ and visit to the Cooch Behar Archives and Library. This was followed by an interactive session involving experts on heritage where scopes of undertaking Heritage Studies as a subject and its future perspectives were discussed.
After the interactive session, Prize and Certificate Distribution Ceremony was held. The 1st position was jointly secured by Tanvir Hossain and Prarona Karmakar, both students of Class-IX, from Vivekananda Vidyapeeth (H.S.) and Epic Public School respectively. The topics selected by them were – ‘The Fading Melodies of Cooch Behar’ (Theme: Cultural Heritage; Sub-theme: Folk Music) and ‘Architecture Cooch Behar Beyond Rajbari’ (Theme: Built Heritage). The 2nd position was secured by Debangshik Biswas a student of Class-XII, from the Techno India Group of Public Schools, his talk was on – ‘Folk Drama Of Cooch Behar (Kushan Pala and Dotara pala)’ [Theme: Cultural Heritage; Sub-theme: Folk Play]. The 3rd position was secured by Mannika Singha Karjee, a student of Class-X, Gopalpur High School, her topic was – ‘Geo Heritage: River Bauti Katha’ [Theme: Geo-heritage]. Many of their topics and delivery were such unique and intriguing that it became very difficult to select positions among them. Dr. Mitra Guha and Rzishikalpa Paul, Founder President, Cooch Behar Archive and Member (Hon.), District Heritage Committee, Cooch Behar, Government of West Bengal served as the Judges. The programme concluded at about 08:00 PM through the Vote of Thanks, which was delivered by Shree Anubrata Chakraborty, Member, Executive Committee, CBA. The entire event was hosted by Ankita Barman and Parbani Chaudhuri.