Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch, has been added to the list of World Heritage Sites by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This comes days after the ongoing 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO inscribed the 13th-century Rudreswara/Ramappa Temple in Telangana as a heritage site.
Gujarat so far has three world heritage sites - Champaner near Pavagadh, Rani ki Vav in Patan and the historic city of Ahmedabad. Following UNESCO's latest move, Union minister of culture and tourism G Kishan Reddy took to Twitter to say that Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given the inscription.
"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," he wrote on Twitter. "Today is a proud day for India, especially for the people of #Gujarat. Since 2014, India has added 10 new World Heritage sites - one-fourth of our total sites. This shows PM @narendramodi's steadfast commitment in promoting Indian culture, heritage and the Indian way of life," he added.
India now has 32 cultural, seven natural and one mixed heritage property. Italy, Spain, China, Germany and France are the only other countries that have 40 or more World Heritage sites.
The Harappan city of Dholavira is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE. It is the sixth-largest of more than 1,000 Harappan sites discovered so far. Occupied for over 1,500 years, Dholavira not only witnesses the entire trajectory of the rise and fall of this early civilization of humankind, but also demonstrates its multifaceted achievements in terms of urban planning, construction techniques, water management, social governance and development, art, manufacturing, trading, and belief system.
With extremely rich artefacts, the well preserved urban settlement of Dholavira depicts a vivid picture of a regional centre with its distinct characteristics that also contribute significantly to the existing knowledge of Harappan Civilization as a whole.
Rudreswara Temple
Rudreswara Temple, known as Ramappa temple, located at Palampet, Mulugu district, near Warangal in the state of Telangana has made it to the list. The decision was taken at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO held on Sunday in China. The iconic Ramappa Temple showcases the outstanding craftsmanship of great Kakatiya dynasty. The 13th century temple was named after its architect, Ramappa. The temple complex was built by Racherla Rudra Reddy during the period of the Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva. It was built using sandstone and its construction, which began in 1213 CE, is believed to have continued for over four decades.
