UNESCO's World Heritage Centre Adds Six Properties to India’s Tentative List
UNESCO's World Heritage Centre has added a group of six properties to India's tentative list, some of which are being considered serially, such as Ashokan Edict Sites and Chausath Yogini Temples distributed across several states.
According to the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, these locations were added to the list on March 7.
It said that if a property is to be nominated for inscription to the World Heritage List in the future, it must be added to the World Heritage Center's tentative list.
The six properties added to the tentative list include Kanger Valley National Park in Chhattisgarh; Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs in Telangana; serial nomination of Ashokan Edict Sites along the Mauryan Routes (multiple states); serial nomination of Chausath Yogini Temples (multiple states); serial nomination of Gupta Temples in north India (multiple states), and the palace-fortresses of the Bundelas in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
India currently has 62 locations on the preliminary list after these additions.
The properties that each nation plans to explore for UNESCO nomination are listed on the "tentative list."
Sites at various locations around the nation are included in the Chausath Yogini Temples considered serially, according to the UNESCO website.
"The Chausath Yogini Temples have 64 images of Yoginis in their individual shrines with intricate stone carvings circularly arranged. These temples are mostly situated on hilltops. 'Yogini' refers to a female practitioner of yoga and 'chausath' is the Hindi word for the number 64. The Yoginis are 64 in number and hence called the Chausath Yogini. They are a group of forest spirits and mother goddesses," reads a description on the UNESCO website.
India now has 43 properties listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, of which 35 fall under the "Cultural" category, seven under the "Natural" category, and one under the "Mixed" category.
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The Moidams, the mound-burial system of the Ahom Dynasty in Assam, were given the coveted UNESCO designation in 2024, the first time India held a World Heritage Committee conference.