World heritage sites of India

Tentative list of world heritage sites of India – Indian side of Kailash Mansarovar

Source: Press Information Bureau

Background

The proposal for ‘Sacred Mountain Landscape and Heritage Routes’ (Indian side of Kailash Mansarovar) has been included in Tentative List of World Heritage Sites of India as a Mixed site in April 2019.

The site has been proposed under UNESCO criteria of Operational Guideline

UNESCO criteria of Operational Guideline and the process involved in it

As per UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines 2017, a site must be on the tentative list of UNESCO at least for a period of one year before proposing it for final nomination.
Once the nomination dossier is completed, it is sent to the World Heritage Centre (WHC) by the stipulated deadline of 01 February of a calendar year.
In furtherance, an expert of the respective field in cultural & natural fields is deputed for the evaluation of site by WHC.
Accordingly, the decision of permanent inclusion of any site in the World Heritage list is taken by the members of the World heritage committee.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

There are 37 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The sites are broken down into the following categories: 29 cultural sites, seven natural sites, and one mixed site.
The most recent site was added in 2018(Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai), and given the country’s long history, there will likely be more added in the coming years (there are an additional 44+ sites on the UNESCO tentative list for India). Following are the important Sites of India which were added recently in the heritage list;