This article covers cultural relations between India and Bulgaria, the friendship societies and monuments linked to India, the cultural events organised by the Indian Embassy in Sofia, and the Indian community and students in Bulgaria. The article is based on the MEA brief of April 2020 and reflects the position at that date. Indology, Hindi studies and yoga are covered in a separate article of this guide.

According to the MEA brief of April 2020, Bulgarian interest in India goes back many centuries. In the 19th century, the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Rakovski expressed support and sympathy for the people of India on the occasion of India's First War of Independence in 1857.

The brief traces the modern reception of Indian culture in Bulgaria to Rabindranath Tagore, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913 and visited Bulgaria in 1926. It describes the visit as an important milestone in the literary relationship between the two countries.

According to the brief, Indian classics such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagvat Gita and Panchatantra, and modern authors such as Prem Chand, Mulk Raj Anand and Amrita Pritam, are popular among Bulgarians. Bulgarian poets including Hristo Botev, Hristo Smyrensky and Nikola Vaptsarov have been widely translated into Indian languages.

Cultural agreements

As of the brief, India and Bulgaria had signed 17 Cultural Exchange Programmes. The last was signed in New Delhi in March 2018 for the period 2018-20. The agreements listed in the brief also include a Programme for Cooperation in the Fields of Science, Education and Culture.

Monuments and places linked to India

  • Two schools in Bulgaria are named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi: a secondary school in the Lyulin District of Sofia and a kindergarten in Pravets. The Indira Gandhi Secondary School in Lyulin also houses a bust of Indira Gandhi.
  • The Lyulin Municipality of Sofia has an Indira Gandhi Street, a Jawaharlal Nehru Boulevard and an Indira Gandhi monument.
  • President Ram Nath Kovind and President Radev unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Sofia's South Park on 6 September 2018. The statue was conceived and created by the Bulgarian sculptor Ivan Rusev.

Friendship societies and cultural organisations

The brief states that several friendship societies spread Indian culture by organising cultural activities with support from the Indian Embassy.

  • The Friends of India Club was founded in 1991 and has members including writers, scholars, diplomats, artists, journalists and musicians. With the Embassy's help it publishes "Svetilnik", an annual magazine on Indian culture and society. The special 20th edition was presented to President Kovind during his State Visit in September 2018.
  • The East-West Indological Foundation was established in 1997 to promote Indology in diverse ways and at different levels, including by supporting cultural troupes from India and organising cultural shows in Bulgaria.
  • Namaste Bulgaria, Devam Foundation and Association India, Bulgaria organise Indian film festivals and cultural shows and support India-related events.

Cultural events organised by the Embassy

Events organised by the Indian Embassy, as listed in the brief, include:

  • an ICCR-sponsored Kathakali dance performance led by Shri Rajashekharan Madhava Kurup during the 5th International Yoga Day celebrations in Sofia, Plovdiv and Pernik in June 2019;
  • screenings of "Gandhi Lives" and a Bollywood film at the MENAR Film Festival in Sofia in January 2019, and of "The Spirit of Freedom", "Mooknayak" and a Bollywood film in January 2020;
  • a Festival of India in Varna and a Diwali Carnival in October 2018;
  • Nada Yoga and Dhrupad performances by the Gundecha Brothers in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna from 19-24 June 2018, and recitals in Sofia in June 2019;
  • a performance by an 11-member ICCR-sponsored Ras Garba troupe from Gujarat in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas from 15-25 August 2017;
  • a sitar recital by Ustad Irshad Khan in Sofia on 31 March 2017;
  • a Bharatnatyam dance performance by Ms. Anjana Rajan in June 2016.

The brief also records that Dr. Ragini Makkhar and the Naadyog Group of Indore won the World Cup of Folklore in Veliko Tarnovo, as part of the XXII Stara Planina Fest "Balkan Folk 2018", held from 10-20 May 2018.

Commemorations

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Embassy organised a series of events. The main event, "Celebrating 150 years of the Mahatma: A Tribute by Bulgarians to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi", was held at the Oborishte 5 Gallery in Sofia on the eve of Gandhiji's birthday. It included an exhibition titled "Mahatma Gandhi: The Vigour of Truth" with work by 20 Bulgarian artists and sculptors created for the event.

A commemorative stamp on Mahatma Gandhi and a first day cover were released on that occasion by Ambassador Pooja Kapur, with Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Transport, IT and Communications Ms. Andreana Atanasova and Mr. Deyan Duneshki, CEO of Bulgarian Post. Further events were held in Varna, Blagoevgrad and Plovdiv.

In November 2019, the Embassy organised three events for the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji: a public event at Svetya Nedelya Square on Gurpurab with langar and a Bhangra flash mob; an event at the Chancery on 12 November with Gurbani Kirtan and discourses by Pradhans and Ragis of the Namdhari Sangat; and lectures on Guru Nanak Devji and Sikhism at the Indology Department of Sofia University.

As part of "Constitution Day and Campaign on Citizens' Duties", Mr. Lozan Panov, President (Chief Justice) of the Supreme Court of Cassation, delivered the keynote address at Constitution Day celebrations at the Embassy on 26 November 2019. A permanent exhibition on the "Making of Indian Constitution" was mounted as part of the celebrations.

The Indian community and students

According to the brief, the Indian community in Bulgaria is small, numbering around 700 as of April 2020. Its members are mostly professionals working for companies or self-employed in small businesses.

There are around 300 Indian students in Bulgaria, mostly studying medicine at universities in Sofia, Pleven, Plovdiv, Varna and Stara Zagora.