Modi cheers as historic Gujarat city gets world heritage status
UN BESTOWS PRESTIGIOUS TAG ON DHOLAVIRA, TEMPLE IN SOUTH INDIA AND WELSH MINING SITE
THE UN’s cultural agency, UNESCO, last Wednesday (25) added an Indian archaeological site and a Welsh slate mining landscape to its list of world heritage sites.
Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Gujarat, has been conferred the tag of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is the second Indian site to be included in the world heritage list last month after the Ramappa temple at Palampet in Telangana’s Warangal.
Dholavira and the Ramappa Temple were included in the list during the 44th session of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.
Gujarat now has four world heritage sites – Dholavira, Champaner near Pavagadh, Rani ki Vav in Patan and the historic city of Ahmedabad.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said he was “absolutely delighted” by this news, noting that Dholavira was an important urban centre and is one of the most important linkages with our past.
“It is a must visit, especially for those interested in history, culture and archaeology,” Modi tweeted.
“I first visited Dholavira during my student days and was mesmerised by the place. As chief minister of Gujarat, I had the opportunity to work on aspects relating to heritage conservation and restoration in Dholavira. Our team also worked to create tourism-friendly infrastructure there,” he said, sharing pictures of his visits to the site.
“It gives immense pride to share with my fellow Indians that #Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given @ UNESCO’’s World Heritage Inscription. Another feather in India’’s cap as we now enter the Super-40 club for World Heritage
Site inscriptions,” culture minister G Kishan Reddy said in a tweet.
“Since 2014, India has added 10 new World Heritage sites – one fourth of our total sites. This shows PM @arendramodi’’s steadfast commitment in promoting Indian culture, heritage and the Indian way of life,” Reddy tweeted.
The Ramappa temple is located in the village of Palampet, some 200km northeast of Hyderabad, in the state of Telangana. Construction of the sandstone temple began in 1213 CE and is believed to have continued over some 40 years.
Meanwhile, the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales in the county of Gwynedd was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, days after the world heritage body stripped the city of Liverpool’s waterfront of the accolade to the dismay of local and national politicians.
“The quarrying and mining of slate has left a unique legacy in Gwynedd which the communities are rightly proud of,” said Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford. “This recognition by UNESCO will help preserve that legacy and history in those communities for generations to come and help them with future regeneration.”
British heritage minister Caroline Dinenage called the decision “a huge achievement” and hoped it would create economic opportunities in the mostly rural region.
UNESCO’s heritage list features more than 1,100 sites, which must meet at least one of its 10 criteria and demonstrate “outstanding universal value” to be included.
Other heritage sites include
India’s Taj Mahal palace, the Grand Canyon National Park in the US and Peru’s Machu Picchu landscape and ruins.
Last month, Liverpool became only the third place to lose its world heritage status after UNESCO judged that development plans threatened its historic port. Regional mayor Steve Rotheram said that the decision was “a retrograde step” taken by officials “on the other side of the world”.