UNESCO WORLD

HERITAGE SITES IN INDIA

2016

KUKKU K ABRAHAM
Roll No. 41

INTRODUCTION

World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized

by the United Nations, specifically by UNESCO. Sites are selected on
the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some other form of
significance, and they are legally protected by international treaties.
UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the collective
interests of humanity.
The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme
administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of
21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General
Assembly.
As of now there are 1052 sites,814 cultural, 203 natural, and 35 mixed
properties, in 165 states parties.According to thesites ranked by
country,Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites
with51
sites,
followed
byChina(50),Spain(45),
France(42),Germany(41),India(35) andMexico (34)

CONT.

TheWhite House conference in 1965 called for a "World Heritage

Trust" to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and
historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world
citizenry.
TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature developed
similar proposals in 1968, and they were presented in 1972 to the
United Nations conference on Human Environment inStockholm.

AIM

Encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection
of their natural and cultural heritage.
Provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger.
Encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and
natural heritage.
Encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their national
territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
Support States Parties' public awareness-building activities for World Heritage
conservation.
Encourage international cooperation in the conservation of our world's cultural and
natural heritage.
Encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on
the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites

SELECTION PROCESS

The first step towards the listing is the nomination of a site by the
respective government of a country.
The site should have an Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for World
Heritage nomination.
To determine the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for World
Heritage nomination, there areten enlisted criteria.

The proposed nominationmust satisfy at least one of these ten

criteria.
The Nomination File is then evaluated by the International Council
on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union.
These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage
Committee.
The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to
inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List and
sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the
country which nominated the site.

HERITAGE SITES IN INDIA

There are 35 (27 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed)World Heritage Sites

in India that are recognised by theUNESCO.
Indias first two sites inscribed on the list at the Seventh Session of the
World Heritage held in 1983 were theAgra Fort and theAjanta Caves.
Three new sites - "Archaeological Site ofNalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda
University)" atNalanda,Bihar, "Capitol Building Complex - The
Architectural
Work
ofLe
Corbusier"
in
Chandigarh
and
"Khangchendzonga National Park,Sikkim" have been added to the list
in July, 2016.

THE ARCHITECTURAL WORK OF LE

CORBUSIER(CAPITOL COMPLEX
CHANDIGARH)

Chandigarh Capitol Complex, is located in the sector-1

ofChandigarh city inIndia is aLe Corbusier-designed .
It is spread over an area of around 100 acres and is a prime
manifestation of Chandigarh's architecture. It comprises three
buildings, three monuments and lake, including Palace of
Assembly
or
Legislative
Assembly,Secretariat,High
Court,Open Hand Monument, Geometric Hill and Tower of
Shadows.

FIG 1 CAPITOL COMPLEX, CHANDIGARH

NALANDA MAHAVIHARA (NALANDA

UNIVERSITY), BIHAR

The Nalanda Mahavihara site is in the State of Bihar, in northeastern India. It comprises the archaeological remains of a
monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BC
to the 13th century AD.
It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational
buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal.
Nalanda stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian
Subcontinent. It engaged in the organized transmission of
knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years.

FIG 2 NALANDA UNIVERSITY

KHANGCHENDZONGA NATIONAL
PARK, SIKKIM

Located in the Himalayan Ranges part of North and West Sikkim districts
of the beautiful state of Sikkim in Indias North-East region.
Also known as Kanchenjunganational park (and Kanchenjunga Biosphere
Reserve) is a huge area spreading over 850 sq. km and has an elevationof
1,829m to 8,500 m above sea level. Kangchendzonga National Park
includes the Kanchenjunga Peak, which is the 3rd highest peak in the
world.
The national park is famous for its fauna and flora, with snow leopard
being occasionally sighted.

The park exhibits one of the widest altitudinal ranges of any protected
area worldwide. It boasts of a unique diversity of lowlands, steep
valleys and snow-clad mountains, including the worlds third highest
peak, Mt. Khangchendzonga, besides numerous lakes and glaciers

FIG 3 KHANGCHENDZONGA NATIONAL PARK