Tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites

Why in news?

• Six Indian sites have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites, the Ministry of Culture, recently announced.

About the list:

• The six sites are namely Satpura Tiger Reserve, Iconic riverfront of the historic city of Varanasi, Megalithic site of Hire Benkal, Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra, Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley- Jabalpur, and temples of Kanchipuram.
• With the addition of these six sites, UNESCO has 48 proposals in the tentative list of India.
• As per Operational Guidelines of UNESCO, it is mandatory to put any monument/site on the Tentative List (TL) before it is considered for the final nomination dossier.

Satpura Tiger Reserve

• Located in Madhya Pradesh, the Satpura National Park is home to 26 species of the Himalayan region including reptiles, and 42 species of Nilgiri areas.
• It is the largest tiger-occupied forest and also has the largest tiger population.
• The place has more than 50 rock shelters with paintings that are 1500 to 10,000 years old.

Megalithic site of Hire Benkal

• The 2,800-years-old megalithic site of Hire Benkal in Karnataka has made it to the tentative list because it is one of the largest prehistoric megalithic settlements where some funerary monuments are still intact.
• The granite structures are burial monuments that may also have served many ritual purposes.
• Due to the extremely valuable collection of Neolithic monuments, the site was proposed for recognition.

Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra

• There are 12 forts in Maharashtra dating back to the era of the 17th-century Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
• They are namely Shivneri (the birthplace of Shivaji); Raigad (the capital fort rebuilt for the coronation of the Maratha king), Torna (the first fort of the Maratha empire), Rajgad, Salher-Mulher, Panhala, Pratapgad, Lohagad, Sindhudurg, Padmadurga (Kasa), Vijaydurg and Kolaba.

Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley- Jabalpur

• Ab iconic site from Madhya Pradesh, Bhedaghat, often referred to as the Grand Canyon of India, is a town in the Jabalpur district, around 25 kms from Jabalpur.
• It is known for its marble rocks and their various morphological forms on either side of the Narmada river which flows through the gorge.
• Several dinosaur fossils have been found in the Narmada valley, particularly in Bhedaghat-Lametghat area of Jabalpur.
• In 1828, the first Dinosaur fossil was collected from Lameta Bed by William Sleeman.
• River Narmada narrows down on its way through marble rocks and plunges in a waterfall giving out the appearance of a smoke cascade.

Temples of Kanchipuram

• The temple town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu is dotted with ancient temples that are architectural marvels and a visual treat.
• Situated on the banks of River Vegavathi, this historical city once had 1,000 temples, of which only 126 (108 Shaiva and 18 Vaishnava) now remain.
• Its rich legacy has been the endowment of the Pallava dynasty, which made the region its capital between the 6th and 7th centuries and lavished upon its architectural gems that are a fine example of Dravidian styles.

Prelims Question:

Which of the following sites have been recently included in the Tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites in 2021:
1.Temples of Kanchipuram 
2.Maratha Military Architecture
3.Megalithic site of Hire Benkal
4.Bhedaghat-Lametaghat
Choose the correct statements from the codes given below:   
(a)1, 2 and 4 only
(b)2,3 and 4 only
(c)1 and 3 only
(d)1,2,3 and 4

Answer to Prelims question