Jaipur gets UNESCO World Heritage Site tag

Sites like Hawa Mahal can hope to get extra protection from illegal renovation with the UNESCO WHS tag

In news that is bound to bring cheer to the heritage movement in Rajasthan and the rest of India, the walled city of Jaipur was honoured with the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site tag. Jaipur becomes the second city after Ahmedabad to earn this tag, as far as an entire city goes.

Early on Saturday morning, during a session in Baku, Azerbaijan, the World Heritage Committee inscribed seven sites on to UNESCO's World Heritage List. The remaining six sites that made it to the list include Dilmun burial mounds (Bahrain), Budj Bim cultural landscape (Australia), archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City (China), Ombilin coal mining Heritage of Sawahlunto, (Indonesia), Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: mounded tombs of ancient Japan (Japan) and the megalithic jar sites in Xiengkhouang - plain of jars (Lao People's Democratic Republic).

To quote from the UNESCO's official website where the news first broke, ‘The city's urban planning shows an exchange of ideas from ancient Hindu and modern Mughal as well as Western cultures. The grid plan is a model that prevails in the West, while the organization of the different districts refers to traditional Hindu concepts.'

Prep work by Jaipur's civic authorities to ensure that the walled city gets the coveted tag had begun a while back. In mid June, the Ashok Gehlot-led state government had declared that the area would soon become a no-construction zone to ensure the complete ban on new structures in the walled city.

The news will offer a shot in the arm towards efforts of the heritage movement in the state that faces several challenges posed by the tourism industry in particular. The tag should hopefully secure the conservation and preservation of the city's priceless landmarks and monuments in accordance with UNESCO's requirements for World Heritage Sites.

Information courtesy: whc.unesco.org

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