India, Dec. 11 -- Deepavali, the festival of lights celebrated by millions across India and the diaspora, was on Wednesday inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity - a milestone that comes as New Delhi hosts the ongoing session of the Intergovernmental Committee at the Red Fort. The recognition, arriving a year after Kolkata's Durga Puja made it to the global heritage register, marks a fresh international endorsement of India's living cultural traditions.

In a rare gesture of unanimity at the committee meeting, UNESCO announced that the inscription was adopted with no request for debate, amendment or objection, and congratulated India for submitting a "perfect" dossier. The evaluation body...