The World Heritage Committee has inscribed Gujarat’s Dholavira on UNESCO World Heritage Site List during its 44th session held online. Dholavira, located in Khadir island of the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization.
Taking to its official Twitter handle, UNESCO tweeted, “BREAKING! Dholavira: A Harappan City, in #IndiaFlag of India, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations!”
🔴 BREAKING!
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) July 27, 2021
Dholavira: A Harappan City, in #India🇮🇳, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations! 👏
ℹ️ https://t.co/X7SWIos7D9 #44WHC pic.twitter.com/bF1GUB2Aga
Earlier, Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana was also inscribed in the UNESCO list. With the inclusion of these two heritage sites, India’s number of World Heritage sites has increased to 40.
Tourism minister G Kishan Reddy has taken to Twitter to share the news. “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”, Tweeted Reddy, thanking PM Modi for his consistent effort to promote Indian culture and heritage.
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.
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) July 27, 2021
Another feather in India’s cap as we now enter the Super-40 club for World Heritage Site inscriptions. pic.twitter.com/yHyHnI6sug
Since 2014, India has added 10 new World Heritage sites – one-fourth of our total sites”, the Tourism Minister added in his subsequent Tweet.
The City of Dholavira was excavated by R.S Bisht in 1985. It demonstrates a highly organised system of town planning with perfected proportions, street-pattern and an efficient water conservation system that supported life for more than 1200 years.
The three-tier zonation found in the Dholavira city, comprising of a distinct upper (citadel, bailey) and middle (having a distinct street-pattern, large scale enclosure and a ceremonial ground) towns enclosed by a lower town (with narrower streets, smaller enclosures and industrial area), distinguishes it from other metropolises of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Besides Dholavira, there are other three World Heritage Sites in Gujarat.
Historic city of Ahmedabad- first city in India to be inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage site list
Amongst these three, the first is the historic city of Ahmedabad which was the first city in India to be inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage City list of 2017. The historic city was founded in 1411 as the capital of Gujarat. It was formerly known as Ashawal of Asha Bhil; Karnavati of Karanadev, Ahamdabad of Sultan Ahmed Shah, Rajnagar, the capital of Jainism, a politico-cultural city of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel and Amdavad of ‘Amdavadis’.
The city flaunts some heritage Indo-Islamic monuments of the 15th to 17th centuries. Besides, there are potential heritage precincts in the form of the Pols, the traditional residential clusters of the medieval period, which makes Ahmedabad exceptional.
Rani ki Vaav (Queen’s Stepwell)
Rani Ki Vav, a stepwell in the little Gujarat town of Patan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Rani-ki-Vav is designed like a temple-cum-water storage system. This stepwell was built by the Solanki dynasty’s queen Udayamati in the 11th century as a memorial to her deceased husband Bhimdev I. Over the years, as the Saraswati river changed its course, the massive structure was flooded and lay buried until its excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India in the late 1980s. Siltation has preserved the structure intact over the centuries.
This historic site inscribed as a Worl Heritage property by UNESCO, features on the new Rs 100 note.
Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2014
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Panchmahal district in Gujarat. The Pavagadh hill is constructed of reddish-yellow coloured stone. This formation is one of the oldest rock formations in India. Pavagadh hill was a famous Hindu fortress under the Solanki kings of Gujarat followed by Khichi Chauhans. The Archaeological park had got the status of an archaeological site in 2004.
