43rd UNESCO Heritage Site of India: Moidams of Assam

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 14-09-2024

43rd UNESCO Heritage Site of India: Moidams of Assam

Art and Culture 8 min read

The Moidams of Assam, the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty, have been included in the cultural category of the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. It is the 43rd site in India to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list.

The Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, gave this information on 26 July 2024.

The decision to include the Moidam of Assam was taken at the 46th session of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) 's World Heritage Committee.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee session is being held for the first time in India at New Delhi from 21-31 July 2024.

3rd site of Assam to be included in UNESCO’s Heritage List

The Moidams of Assam- the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty is the third site in Assam and North East to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List and the first in the cultural category.
Kaziranga National Park of Assam and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary were included in the UNESCO list in 1985 under the Natural category.

About Moidam

Moidams, or "home for spirit," are burial sites which are basically hollow vaults of brick stone and contain the remains of kings and royals of the Tai-Ahom,
The Tai Ahom, who arrived in Assam in the 13th century, constructed moidams for the royal families initially with wood and later with stone and burnt bricks,
The Tai Ahom considered their rulers divine and developed a distinct funerary tradition of constructing moidams for royal burials.
There are 90 Moidams found mainly in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam.
Tai-Ahom created moidams (burial mounds) in the hills, forests and water, forming a sacred geographical area. Banyan trees were used for coffins, and bark manuscripts were planted in the Moidams.
The Tai-Ahom consider these burial mounds sacred and reflect their unique funerary practices.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites categorises heritage into Cultural, Natural, and Mixed categories.

Italy has the most sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with 59, followed by China, with 57 sites.

India is sixth with 43 sites.

Ajanta Cave, Ellora Cave (both Maharashtra), the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Agra Fort in Uttar Pradesh were the first Indian sites to be included in UNESCO’s list in 1983.

List of Indian Heritages in UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The following is the list of Indian heritage sites, their locations, and the year they were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Serial Number	Heritage Site	Year of Inclusion	State	Category
1	Ajanta Caves	1983	Maharashtra	Cultural
2	Ellora Caves	1983	Maharashtra	Cultural
3	Agra Fort	1983	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
4	Taj Mahal	1983	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
5	Sun Temple	1984	Orissa	Cultural
6	Mahabalipuram Monuments	1984	Tamil Nadu	Cultural
7	Kaziranga National Park	1985	Assam	Natural
8	Keoladeo National Park	1985	Rajasthan	Natural
9	Manas Wildlife Sanctuary	1985	Assam	Natural
10	Churches and Convents of Goa	1986	Goa	Cultural
11	Monuments of Khajuraho	1986	Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
12	Monuments of Hampi	1986	Karnataka	Cultural
13	Fatehpur Sikri	1986	Uttar Pradesh	Cultural
14	Elephanta Caves	1987	Maharashtra	Cultural
15	Great Living Chola Temples. It includes (a) Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, (b) Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and (c) Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.	1987	Tamil Nadu	Cultural
16	Pattadakal Monuments	1987	Karnataka	Cultural
17	Sundarbans National Park	1987	West Bengal	Natural
18	Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Park	1988	Uttarakhand	Natural
19	Monuments of Buddha	1989	Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
20	Humayun’s Tomb	1993	Delhi	Cultural
21	Qutub Minar and its Monuments	1993	Delhi	Cultural
22	Mountain Railways of Darjeeling, Kalka- Shimla & Nilgiri	1999	West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu	Cultural
23	Mahabodhi Temple	2002	Bodh Gaya, Bihar	Cultural
24	Bhimbetka Rock Shelters	2003	Madhya Pradesh	Cultural
25	Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus	2004	Maharashtra	Cultural
26	Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park	2004	Gujarat	Cultural
27	Red Fort	2007	Delhi	Cultural
28	Jantar Mantar	2010	Delhi	Cultural
29	Western Ghats	2012	Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra	Natural
30	Hill Forts of Rajasthan in Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh Sawai Madhopur Jhalawar, Jaipur, and Jaisalmer.	2013	Rajasthan	Culture
31	Rani Ki Vav	2014	Patan, Gujarat	Cultural
32	Great Himalayan National Park	2014	Himachal Pradesh	Natural
33	Nalanda	2016	Bihar	Cultural
34	Khangchendzonga National Park	2016	Sikkim	Mixed
35	Architectural Work of Le Corbusier (Capitol Complex)	2016	Chandigarh	Cultural
36	The Historic City of Ahmedabad	2017	Gujarat	Cultural
37	Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai	2018	Maharashtra	Cultural
38	The Pink City	2019	Jaipur, Rajasthan	Cultural
39	Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple	2021	Telangana	Cultural
40	Dholavira	2021	Gujarat	Cultural
41	Santiniketan	2023	West Bengal	Cultural
42	Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebid and Somananthpura	2023	Karnataka	Cultural
43	Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty	2024	Assam	Cultural