NEW DELHI, Dec 21: The Archaeological Survey of India has included the prime minister Narendra Modi’s birthplace—the historical Vadnagar town in Gujarat—and two other Indian sites in the tentative list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites.
The marvellous rock carvings of Unakoti in Tripura and the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera in Gujarat’s Mehsana district have also made it to the tentative list of UNESCO. With the addition of these three sites, India now has 52 sites on the UNESCO tentative list.
In 2021, India proposed to add six sites to the list. They were:
- Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh
- Megalithic site of Hire Benkal in Karnataka
- Historical city of Varanasi
- Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra
- Temples in Kanchipuram
- Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley at Jabalpur
UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. Any cultural or natural site needs to make its way to the tentative list to be on the UNESCO World Heritage List. But, being added to the tentative list doesn’t guarantee the presence of the site on the main list.
According to UNESCO, for a site to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, it must first be nominated by the country where it is located. The nomination is examined by international experts who decide whether the inclusion is justified. Finally, the World Heritage Committee, a body of 21 UNESCO elected Member States, takes a vote.
Once a site has been nominated and evaluated, it is up to the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee to make the final decision on its inscription. Once a year, the Committee meets to decide which sites will be inscribed on the World Heritage List, the UNESCO site says.
(Manas Dasgupta)