UNESCO world heritage: Six sites including Varanasi’s Ganga ghat added from India

Union cultural minister, Prahlad Singh Patel, on Wednesday informed that six of India's heritage sites have made it to UNESCO's tentative list. These sites include Varanasi’s ghats along the Ganges, Kanchipuram Temple in Tamil Nadu, Satpura Tiger Reserve, and Bhedaghat in Madhya Pradesh, Maratha Military architecture in Maharashtra, and Hire Bankal of Karnataka. The union minister informed that the Government had sent a recommendation of nine sites, out of which six have been selected. 

Prahlad Singh Patel also tweeted the names of the sites that have made it to the provisional list. 

The six proposals were included on April 13 which made the total count of proposals from India to 48. An official also added that as per 2019 guidelines it is compulsory for selected sites to be first added in the tentative list before it is considered for final nomination. 

"As per operational guidelines, 2019 it is mandatory to put any monument/site on the Tentative List (TL) before it is considered for the final nomination dossier. India has 48 sites in the TL as of now. As per rules, any country can submit the nomination dossier after one year of it being on the TL. So we can utilize this time to prepare the nomination dossiers," added an official to PTI reporters. 

Cultural Heritage sites of India in UNESCO 

UNESCO has already added 30 of India's cultural sites, 7 natural, and 1 mixed site. This includes Agra Fort, Ajanta Caves, Elephanta caves, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Jaipur City of Rajasthan. The list of Natural sites includes Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Nanda Devi, and Valley of Flowers National Parks, Sundarbans National Park, and Western Ghats. 

Apart from the heritage sites, the tentative list also includes activities, news, and events of India. Previously added 42 historic locations include Temples of Bishnupur in West Bengal, Mattanchery Palace, Ernakulam in Kerala, Group of Monuments at Mandu in Madhya Pradesh, Ancient Buddhist Site, Sarnath of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Sri Harimandir Sahib of Punjab, and River Island of Majuli in midstream of Brahmaputra River in Assam.