The Ministry of Culture has launched the upgraded Indian Culture Portal Version 2.0 in March 2026, representing a significant enhancement in digital access to India's cultural heritage. The portal features a modern, scalable, and secure architecture with key improvements including enhanced search capabilities, multilingual support through integration with the BHASHINI platform providing content in 22 Indian languages, improved user interface and experience, Progressive Web Application functionality for cross-device access, an AI-enabled chatbot named Bharti for intelligent search and multilingual interaction, and integration with cultural institutions under the Ministry of Culture.
The portal employs a decoupled architecture using React and Drupal 10 for improved performance, scalability, and security. It serves as a unified discovery platform aggregating digital resources from museums, libraries, archives, monuments, and other cultural institutions through standard metadata exchange, APIs, and institutional onboarding mechanisms. The platform includes new thematic sections and curated cultural collections to enhance public engagement.
The initiative aims to promote wider public access and preservation of India's cultural heritage by providing a single digital platform for accessing cultural resources from multiple institutions, facilitating research through advanced search and metadata-based discovery, supporting students, researchers, educators and the general public with authenticated cultural information, enabling virtual exploration of museums and heritage collections, and strengthening long-term digital preservation.
The portal integrates 46 cultural institutions across 18 states and union territories, including major institutions such as the National Archives of India, National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Sahitya Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Indian Museum, National Library of India, and various state archives and cultural centers. The website is accessible globally and responsive across all screen sizes including desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices.
This information was formally disclosed by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha on August 10, 2026.