The Ministry of Culture has undertaken significant measures to strengthen digital access to India's cultural heritage through the upgraded Indian Culture Portal (ICP) Version 2.0, launched in March 2026. The portal features a modern, scalable, and secure architecture with enhanced search capabilities, multilingual support, improved user interface and experience, Progressive Web Application functionality, an AI-enabled chatbot named Bharti, and integration with cultural institutions of the Ministry of Culture.
Key improvements include a modern responsive user interface with improved navigation, availability of content in 22 Indian languages through integration with the BHASHINI platform, deployment of AI-powered chatbot Bharti for intelligent search and multilingual interaction, advanced search and filtering features, PWA development for cross-device access, decoupled architecture using React and Drupal 10 for improved performance, and addition of new thematic sections and curated cultural collections.
The portal serves as a unified discovery platform by aggregating digital resources from museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions under the Ministry of Culture and partner organizations through standard metadata exchange, APIs, and institutional onboarding mechanisms. It aims to promote wider public access and preservation of India's cultural heritage by providing a single digital platform for cultural resources, facilitating research through advanced search and metadata-based discovery, supporting students and researchers with authenticated information, enabling virtual exploration of cultural assets, promoting awareness through curated content, strengthening digital preservation, encouraging public participation through multilingual access, and maintaining global accessibility across all screen sizes.
This information was provided by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on August 13, 2026.