Boost to India’s cultural heritage! Vadnagar town, Modhera Sun Temple, Unakoti sculptures added to UNESCO tentative list
21 Dec 2022 15:39:05
New Delhi, December 21: In a major development that eventually will boost India’s cultural heritage, three new cultural sites in India, including the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, historic Vadnagar town in Gujarat and rock-cut relief sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura, have the been added to the tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites
For unreserved, the UNESCO website describes a tentative list as an “inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination”.
Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy share this good news via social media site. “Congratulations India! India adds 3 more sites to @UNESCO’s Tentative List: 01 Vadnagar- A multi-layered Historic town, Gujarat 02 Sun Temple, Modhera and its adjoining monuments 03 Rock-cut Sculptures and Reliefs of the Unakoti, Unakoti Range, Unakoti District,” he tweeted.
Vadnagar, an ancient city in Mehsana district of Gujarat is steeped in history and endowed with rich built heritage. It is the hometown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A senior official said that the names of the three sites for inclusion in the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, were sent “about 15 days ago”.
The Sun Temple, Modhera dedicated to the Sun God, is one of the remarkable gems of temple architecture in India. It impresses not only with its architectural structure and technological achievements as in position of the temple against to Sun; but also in particular with its sculpture decoration, representing true artistic mastery.
The temple is an “exemplary model of Maru-gurjara architecture style of the 11th century of western India under the patronage of the Solanki dynasty. The age of the temple may be inferred from its style belonging to the reign of Bhimadeva I (1022-1063 CE),” reads the description about the temple in the Tentative List section of UNESCO on its website.
The third site, Unakoti — the chiselled ‘Angkor Wat of the North-East’ region — contain the series of Shaivite rock sculptures in the northern part of Tripura. Nestled in the Raghunandan hills, about 180 km from Agartala, Unakoti is home to giant bas-relief sculptures of the 8-9th century carved out of a huge hill.
With the addition of these three sites, India now has 52 sites on the UNESCO tentative list. A total of six Indian sites have been added to the Tentative List so far this year.
India has a total of 40 sites which enjoy the UNESCO World Heritage tag. These include 32 cultural sites, such as Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, Harappan-era site in Dholavira, Elephanta Caves, Red Fort