Three popular groups of monuments in Karnataka have now entered UNESCO’s world heritage tentative list.
The three groups are monuments and forts of the Deccan Sultanate (Deccan Sultanate architecture including Gulbarga, Bidar and Bijapur), monuments of Srirangapatna island town and sacred ensemble of the Hoysalas (Hoysala architecture series including Belur and Halebid).
This was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah yesterday in Mysore while participating in a function at the police commissioner’s office where he launched seven programmes worth Rs 113 crore. Expressing his happiness, he hoped that the three sites would make it to the final list and get the tag of world heritage monuments.
The Directorate of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage of the state government, had submitted detailed reports on the three sites to the Advisory Committee on Heritage Matters of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for inclusion in the list of world heritage monuments last February.
The Member-Secretary of the Advisory Committee has now communicated that the proposals sent by the Karnataka government on April 15, were included in the tentative list after a review of the dossiers, said Directorate Commissioner C G Bethsurmath.
The three sites that attract a large of tourists have moved a step closer to being inscribed as World Heritage Sites of the UNESCO. Hampi, Pattadakal and Western Ghats of Karnataka have already found place among the UNESCO world heritage sites.
As on April 15, 48 sites from India are on the tentative list of the UNESCO world heritage sites, including the three proposed by Karnataka. Other monuments in India’s tentative list include Harappa, Lothal archaeological remains, Andaman Islands’ Cellular Jail, Harappan city of Dholavira, Padmanabhapuram Palace and Ranganathaswamy Temple of Srirangam.
A monument needs to be on the tentative list for at least one year before any nomination can be submitted to the World Heritage Centre. Therefore, the earlier date of dossier submission for newly-added properties on the tentative list will be February 1, 2016.
There are several parameters regarding protection, conservation and management of the sites that need to be fulfilled before submission of the nomination dossier. Also, a minimum of 1.5-2 years is required for preparing a good nomination dossier, said the Member-Secretary in his letter, while congratulating the state for its achievement..
An inscribed monument, besides getting recognition and assistance, will also become eligible for assistance from the World Heritage Fund and help preserve the monuments in danger as they would be monitored regularly by expert missions.The decision to inscribe is taken by the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO.