Kolkata: Rabindranath Tagore’s “abode of peace” Santiniketan and Hoysala temples in Karnataka were officially recognised as Unesco World Heritage sites - 42nd in India and fifth in Bengal. The decision to include Santiniketan on this list was made by members of the International Council on Monuments and Sites at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh. This was the first meeting of the committee since the pandemic in 2020.
The journey to secure Unesco recognition for Santiniketan began over a decade ago when restoration architects Abha Narain Lambah and conservation architect Manish Chakraborti collaborated to prepare the initial dossier for the ASI.
“Santiniketan is the tangible realisation of an educational and artistic community’s encounter with pan-Asian modernity. It represents a modernity that does not look to the West, but East, and represents a sustainable architecture that is even more relevant today than it was a hundred years ago,” Lambah said. CM Mamata Banerjee expressed her joy, emphasising the pride of Bengal in Santiniketan and acknowledging the government’s efforts to enhance its infrastructure in recent years
Hoysala temples
The inclusion of Karnataka's Hoysala Temples' sacred ensembles in the World Heritage list came a day after the recognisation of Santiniketan. "More pride for India! The magnificent Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas have been inscribed on the @UNESCO World Heritage List," PM Modi wrote on X.
"The timeless beauty and intricate details of the Hoysala temples are a testament to India's rich cultural heritage and the exceptional craftsmanship of our ancestors," he added. The Union Government had proposed the Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebid and Somnathapura as India's official nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List for the year 2022-2023.