Twists in the trail
Six Indian sites are vying for the Unesco World Heritage tag. The move promises fame, pride and a stream of tourists. But only if we can manage our treasures well
There’s good news and bad news. First, the good: six Indian sites are on the latest shortlist for the Unesco world heritage tag. These include stunning Maratha forts, soaring marble cliffs, an ancient burial complex, a lush reserve home to almost a sixth of India’s tigers, and centuries-old temples. Now for the bad: The tag, if it comes through (it typically takes two to five years to vet each nomination), will likely help protect the sites, but can only do so much. The onus of promoting them, preserving them amid rising tourist traffic, educating new generations about their importance remains. India already has 38 Unesco World Heritage Sites, and most Indians would be hardpressed to name more than three. The Ajanta and Ellora Caves and the Western Ghats are familiar; so are the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Sun Temple at Konark. But how many are familiar with the ancient rock art at Bhimbetka (some of it goes back 10,000 years), the ruins of Champaner-pavagadh (a pre-mughal Islamic city still standing in Gujarat), or even the ruins at Nalanda in Bihar?
“It’s very telling that India is ranked 40th among 136 countries on tourism competitiveness, but when it comes to tourism and heritage assets, we’re ranked 4th,” says Divay Gupta, principal director of architectural heritage at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). “That just goes to show that we’re not doing enough to unlock the potential of our monuments for tourism.”
In Egypt, firmly in the global south, a determined tourist route weaves through pyramids, monuments and ancient temples separated by hundreds of miles, ensuring that most visitors see at least a little more than they’d bargained for.
Even in Peru, not known for its connectivity, direct train routes take fliers straight from the nearest airport to Machu Picchu. Here, one might head to the Taj Mahal and Khajuraho, then struggle to get to Ellora, and become overwhelmed trying to figure out how to navigate the rest.
In states known for certain sites of importance, such as Tamil Nadu with its ancient temples, other forms of heritage, like the historic forts, remain unseen. People head to Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh for the stupas, but there are no signs there to tell them that they’re just two hours from Bhimbetka.
And millions come to India from continents away and leave without going on a single wildlife safari, something that would be unthinkable in any part of East Africa. Though there are scores of species in India that cannot be seen in the wild anywhere else on earth, the country’s natural heritage remains both endangered and undersold to tourists. We have treasures that rival what some of the most visited nations of the world possess, there is no combined strategy to showcase them.
“We should be focussing on developing lesser-known sites and monuments in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities,” says Narayan Vyas, retired archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
IT’S TELLING THAT INDIA RANKS 4TH IN THE WORLD FOR TOURISM AND HERITAGE ASSETS, AND 40TH FOR TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS, SAYS DIVAY GUPTA OF INTACH
SHOW & SELL
One thing a Unesco tag does do is help protect a space, and that is a crucial function in a country where, until recently, shopkeepers were using the ancient central marketplace in Hampi, and where planning remains loose and laws, loosely enforced even at major sites.
“When you visit the Sun Temple in Konark, your view of the temple is blocked by the shops in front of it. It took over 10 years to clean up shops and shanties near Tirupati and the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. But this needs to be done all over,” says Sivasankar Babu, spokesperson of the NGO Tamil Heritage Trust.
Once you get to a site, it’s often hard to tell what one is looking at. Nirman Chowdhury, 28, an independent filmmaker from Mumbai, has visited 14 of India’s 38 Unesco World Heritage Sites. At many, he says, there was little information available.
Where countries with far less to display offer audio guides, interactive exhibits, games, virtual reality kiosks, videos and group activities, in India, the quality of the information varies wildly. Some structures have engaging audio guides that leave you educated and satisfied. Others offer a dusty pamphlet with a couple of lines on artefacts that go back thousands of years.
We are lacking when it comes to content production, says Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum. He puts it down to a scarcity of researchers and trained staff. “There isn’t a single international or national-level institute at par with the IITS or IIMS for heritage management. We need to start investing a lot more in culture. Other South Asian nations like Bangkok, Thailand and China are already doing this,” he says.
So there’s good news and bad. The good shouldn’t be underestimated. India as a country has more to work with than most. And it’s not too late to dust off the showpieces and draw the world in.