With every annual meeting of the UNESCO, a few natural or cultural sites get added to the World Heritage List. This year, all three sites nominated by India have been accepted by the UNESCO. These include the Nalanda University, Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex, and Sikkim’s Khangchendzonga National Park.
What Does Being A World Heritage Site Mean?
A World Heritage site means that a particular location of cultural or natural importance gets treated like a baby, and not just by the country to which it belongs but by the whole world. Care is taken in preserving and protecting the site. Till date, there are 1052 sites that have either been classified as natural, cultural or mixed heritage site.
What Does It Take To Be Accepted As A World Heritage Site?
Only the best get through. If a particular site were a student, the pressure, and eligibility to get into a college would be similar to being declared as a World Heritage Site. The UNESCO has a set of 10 criteria, out of which a particular site needs to satisfy at least one. On the whole, the heritage site needs to be extraordinary, of value to humanity, and must be outstanding examples of human geniuses, cultural history, and natural habitats.
With the addition of three important Indian heritage sites to the list and a total of 35, India has the sixth highest number of World Heritage sites after Italy (51), China (50), Spain (45), France (42) and Germany (41).
The New Additions
Nalanda University
India’s first residential university, Nalanda University was established during the Gupta Dynasty. It had over 10,000 students, many of who were from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia and even Persia. Spread across 14 hectares, this architectural marvel still leaves many speechless.
Chandigarh Capitol Complex
The Capitol Complex is Le Corbusier’s most spectacular work. The magnificent edifices, stand as massive concrete structures, representing the authority that the complex represents. It comprises of the Secretariat, the High Court, and the Legislative Assembly, for the states of Punjab and Haryana.
Khangchendzonga National Park
Sikkim’s Khangchendzonga National Park is India’s first Mixed World Heritage. The National Park includes a diversity of plains, glaciers, valleys, lakes and also includes the world’s highest peak- Mount Khanchendzonga. It runs along the international boundary with Nepal and China and covers an area of 1784 sq.km.
The UNESCO World Heritage site, not only takes a step to protect and preserve these sites that are of utmost importance to humanity but makes the entire population of the world responsible in pampering these often forgotten and misused structures.
These destinations signify beauty of the past, and are the only way in which we can feel closer to our rich history, and declaring them as World Heritage sites is a way to respect them ( which otherwise is shown through the lovely drawings and etches we make on them).
You May Also Like:
Creating History At Every Step, Indians Have A Lot To Expect Of The Rio Olympics 2016
