Hoysala Temple Complex becomes India's 42nd UNESCO World Heritage Site

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 14-03-2024

Hoysala Temple Complex becomes India's 42nd UNESCO World Heritage Site

Art and Culture 16 min read

The 45th session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, added architectural marvels of Karnataka and Hoysala era temples as India's 42nd World Heritage Site in the Cultural category.

The 'Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas' comprising three temples — Chennakeshava temple at Belur, Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebid in Hassan district and Kesav temple at Somnathpur of Mysuru district as the latest addition to the list of World Heritage Sites.
The shrines are characterized by hyper-real sculptures and stone carvings covering the entire architectural surface, a circumambulatory platform, a large-scale sculptural gallery, a multi-tiered frieze, and the Sala legend sculptures.
Rulers of the Hoysala dynasty ruled over parts of Southern India from the 11th Century to the 14th Century, and their capital was Halebid (Dwarasamudra).

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was establshed on November 16, 1945.

UNESCO has 195 Members and 8 Associate Members.
UNESCO is governed by the General Conference and also an Executive Board.
The Secretariat is headed by the Director-General which implements the decisions of these two bodies.
Its headquarters are located in Paris.
Ms Audrey Azoulay is the Director-General of UNESCO.
UNESCO's mission is to contribute to building a culture of peace, sustainable development, the eradication of poverty and intercultural dialogue through education, sciences, culture, communication and information.
UNESCO usually works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples based upon respect for commonly shared values.

Name of the site	Category	Location	Features
Agra Fort (1983)	Cultural	Agra, Uttar Pradesh	Red Fort of Agra Built by Akbar Home to palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas.
Ajanta Caves (1983)	Cultural	Ajanta, Maharashtra	Ancient Buddhist rock-cut architecture. On the left bank of the river Waghora in the hills of Ajanta First phase coincides with the rule of the Satavahana dynasty from about the 2nd century BC to the 1st century BC. Second phase corresponds to the Basim branch of the Vakataka dynasty with their Asmaka and Rishika feudatories in the 5th to 6th centuries CE.
Nalanda Mahavihara (2016)	Cultural	Nalanda, Bihar	Most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent. Development of Buddhism into a religion
Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)	Cultural	Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh	Buddhist monuments (monolithic pillars, palaces, temples and monasteries) by Mauryan emperor Aśoka. Sunga, Kushana, Kshatrapa, and finally Gupta dynasties – continued to contribute to the expansion of Sanchi. History of Buddhism from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE.
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)	Cultural	Panchmahal, Gujarat	Pavagadh Hill is a volcanic formation. 14th century Hindu capital and Islamic state capital of 15th century Khichi Chauhan Rajputs Sultan Mehmud Begda made his capital Brahmanical temple of Kalika Mata
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus) (2004)	Cultural	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India. Designed by the British architect F. W. Stevens, became the symbol of Bombay as the ‘Gothic City
Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)	Cultural	Goa	Former capital of the Portuguese Indies – particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier
Dholavira: a Harappan City (2021)	Cultural	Gujrat	On the arid island of Khadir Large cemetery with cenotaphs of six types testifying to the Harappans unique view of death. Bead processing workshops and artifacts of various kinds such as copper, shell, stone, jewelry of semi-precious stones, terracotta, gold, ivory Evidence for inter-regional trade with other Harappan cities, as well as with cities in the Mesopotamia region and the Oman peninsula
Elephanta Caves (1987)	Cultural	Maharashtra	City of Caves', on an island in the Sea of Oman close to Bombay. Contains a collection of rock art linked to the cult of Shiva in Hinduism. The Island of Gharapuri
Ellora Caves (1983)	Cultural	Aurangabad, Maharashtra	Devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism
Fatehpur Sikri (1986)	Cultural	Agra, Uttar Pradesh	Second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar. largest mosques in India, the Jama Masjid.
Great Living Chola Temples (1987, 2004)	Cultural	Thanjavur, TamilNadu	Three great 11th- and 12th-century Temples: the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.
Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)	Cultural	Bellary, Karnataka	Last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Tungabhadra basin Krishna temple complex, Narasimha, Ganesa, Hemakuta group of temples, Achyutaraya temple complex, Vitthala temple complex, Pattabhirama temple complex, Lotus Mahal complex,
Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)	Cultural	Chingleput, Tamil Nadu	Founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries Temple are Koneri Mandapam, Mahishmardhini cave, and Varaha Mandapa Arjuna’s Penance and Govardhan Dhari.
Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)	Cultural	Bijapur, Karnataka,	The 7th and 8th centuries under the Chalukya dynasty. Temple of Virupaksha, built c. 740 by Queen Lokamahadevi
Hill Forts of Rajasthan (2013)	Cultural	Rajasthan	Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber, Jhalawar and Jaisalmer.
Historic City of Ahmedabad (2017)	Cultural	Gujrat	Founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah in the 15th century, on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river, the Bhadra citadel,
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (1993)	Cultural	Delhi	Built in 1560 by Akbar.an example of the charbagh (a four quadrant garden with the four rivers of Quranic paradise represented). Also called the ‘dormitory of the Mughals’
Jaipur City, Rajasthan (2019)	Cultural	Jaipur	Founded in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh II Architect- planner Vidyadhar.
Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple (2021)	Cultural	Hyderabad, Telangana	Kakatiyan period (1123–1323 CE) under rulers Rudradeva and Recharla Rudra
Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)	Cultural	Madhya Pradesh	Built during the Chandella dynasty, which reached its apogee between 950 and 1050. Two different religions – Hinduism and Jainism Nagara-style temple architecture. Temple of Kandariya
Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)	Cultural	Gaya, Bihar	The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., and the present temple dates from the 5th or 6th centuries. the attainment of Enlightenment of Buddha.
Mountain Railways of India (1999, 2005, 2008)	Cultural	West Bengal, TamilNadu, Himachal	Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Kalka Shimla Railway
Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)	Cultural	Delhi	Qutb mosque, the Quwwatu’l-Islam Completed by Qutb ud din Aibak and Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish. Saracenic tradition Alai Darwaza by Allaudin Khilji
Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) (2014)	Cultural	Patan, Gujarat	On the banks of the Saraswati River, Distinctive form of subterranean water resource and storage systems Maru-Gurjara architectural style,
Red Fort Complex (2007)	Cultural	Delhi	bUILT as the palace fort of Shahjahanabad – the new capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor of India, Shah Jahan The Salimgarh, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546 The Nahr-i-Behisht (Stream of Paradise)
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003) Sacred	Cultural	Madhya Pradesh	Mesolithic Period Closely associated with a hunting and gathering
Ensembles of the Hoysalas (2023)	Cultural	Hassan and Mysuru, Karnataka	dating from the 12th to 13th centuries sculptures of the Sala legend Belur, Halebid and Somnathpur temples Often described as ‘Poetry carved in Stone’
Santiniketan (2023)	Cultural	West Bengal	Established in 1901 by Rabindranath Tagore A ‘world university’ was established at Santiniketan in 1921, recognizing the unity of humanity or “Visva Bharati”.
Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)	Cultural	Puri, Odisha	Culmination of Kalinga temple architecture Monumental representation of the sun god Surya's chariot Built in the 13th century, it is one of India's most famous Brahman sanctuaries.
Taj Mahal (1983)	Cultural	Agra, Uttar Pradesh	Built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan Bank of the Yamuna River Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the main architect
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier (2016)	Cultural	Chandigarh	Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh Built over a period of a half-century, in the course of what Le Corbusier described as “patient research”.
The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)	Cultural	Jaipur, Rajasthan	Built in the early 18th century by Jai Singh II The astronomical tables of Zij Part of a tradition of Ptolemaic positional astronomy
Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018)	Cultural	Mumbai	First in the Victorian Neo-Gothic style and then, in the early 20th century, in the Art Deco idiom.
Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (2014)	Natural	Himachal	High alpine peaks, alpine meadows and riverine forests.
Kaziranga National Park (1985)	Natural	Assam	World's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses Brahmaputra Valley floodplain
Keoladeo National Park (1985)	Natural	Bharatpur, Rajasthan	Palaearctic migratory waterfowl, aquatic birds from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, China and Siberia. ‘Bird Paradise
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)	Natural	Assam	alluvial grasslands and tropical forests endangered species, such as the tiger, pygmy hog, Indian rhinoceros and Indian elephant Manas River
Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988, 2005)	Natural	Uttarakhand	Endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep Mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya Nanda Devi, India’s second highest mountain which is approached through the Rishi Ganga gorge
Sundarbans National Park (1987)	Natural	West Bengal	The world's largest area of mangrove forests. At the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers between India and Bangladesh Bengal tigers
Western Ghats (2012)	Natural	Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat	The world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity along with Sri Lanka.
Khangchendzonga National Park (2016)	Mixed	Sikkim	World’s third highest peak, Mt. Khangchendzonga. Zemu Glacier A hidden land both to Buddhists (Beyul) and to Lepchas as Mayel Lyang,