INTACH hosts quiz on culture, heritage

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) conducted a state-level cultural heritage quiz at Army Public School, Beas, on Friday to engage students with India’s rich cultural legacy. Maj Gen Balwinder Singh, INTACH Punjab State Convener, highlighted that the annual quiz aims to instil awareness of cultural heritage among the younger generation.

He added that the top-performing team at the state level will represent Punjab in the national-level competition in Delhi. Over the past two years, Spring Dale Public School, Amritsar, has consistently won the national trophy.

This year, students from 11 districts of Punjab participated: Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Malerkotla, Patiala, Jalandhar, and Kapurthala. The competition follows a three-stage format. At the school level, teams from classes 7 to 10 are selected by their respective schools. The district-level round involves written and oral rounds conducted by INTACH district conveners, generally with 10 to 15 participating schools.

The top teams from each district then compete at the state level, facing rigorous questions on built heritage, Indian personalities, heritage at risk, natural heritage, living heritage, Punjab-related heritage, and INTACH initiatives.

The district-level top schools this year included Guru Nanak Dev Academy, Tarn Taran; MGN Public School, Kapurthala; DCM International School, Kotkapura; Silver Oak School, Bathinda; Alfalah Public School, Malerkotla; Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar; Dass and Brown World School, Ferozepur; British Co-ed High School, Patiala; Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Nainowal Vaid, Hoshiarpur; Gen Gurnam Singh Public School, Sangrur; and AI International School, Nakodar.

At the state-level quiz, Spring Dale students Sehajnoor Kaur and Saurish Nagpal emerged winners and will represent Punjab at the national competition in Delhi in December. MGN Public School, Kapurthala students Charuvrat Bains and Arshiya secured second place, while Gen Gurnam Singh Public School, Sangrur students Mehtab Sidhu and Arpan Kansal finished third.