World Heritage Day: India Is Home To 35 World Heritage Sites And We Need To Protect Them

World Heritage Day is observed every year on 18th April and celebrates international monuments and sites in the world. Like every year, this year too there’s a theme and that is – Sustainable Tourism.

Sustainable Tourism has been defined by UNESCO as “tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment”. The main aim of sustainable tourism is to provide people with an educational and exciting holiday that is also of benefit to the people of the host country. Sustainable Tourism is more than ever needed in our world, as tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing industries and is even the major source of income for many countries.

The major point of World Heritage Day is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving various historical and monumental sites around us, in the best way possible.

World Heritage Sites

A World Heritage Site status is given to a natural or manmade area or a structure which is that of an international importance and requires special attention and protection. The UN and UNESCO are the ones that recognise these sites. As a total there are 1,052 World Heritage Sites, out of which 814 are cultural, 203 are natural and 35 are mixed. However, fifty-five out of these 1,052 world heritage sites are in danger.

How many World Heritage Sites, are in India?

A total of 35 World Heritage Sites are present in India and this makes India, one of the top countries globally in terms of the number of World Heritage Sites. Out of these 35, 27 are of cultural importance, whereas 8 are of natural importance.

These 35 sites include:

1. Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University), Bihar
2. Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim
3. Capitol Complex, Chandigarh
4. Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh
5. Rani Ki Vav, Patan, Gujarat
6. Group of Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka
7. Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka
8. Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Madhya Pradesh
9. Hill Forts of Rajasthan
10. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya, Bihar
11. Churches and Convents of Goa
12. Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh
13. Great Living Chola Temples, Tamil Nadu
14. Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
15. Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh
16. Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
17. Ellora Caves, Maharashtra
18. Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra
19. Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam
20. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam
21. Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan
22. Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks, Uttarakhand
23. Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal
24. Western Ghats
25. Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi
26. Red Fort Complex, Delhi
27. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), Maharashtra
28. Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha
29. Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, Rajasthan
30. Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh
31. Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh
32. Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
33. Mountain Railways of India
34. Qutub Minar and its Monuments, New Delhi
35. Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, Gujarat

These 35 sites come under UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites and have a lot of history associated with them which is just amazing to witness firsthand.

The importance of World Heritage Day lies in order to raise awareness about the challenges involved in the protection of World Heritage Sites. Many Indians, on Twitter, came forward to mark their respect for our country’s Heritage and shared some stunning images of the wonders of India.

Jyotsna Amla