Harappan-era city Dholavira, located in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) by the UNESCO heritage committee. Taking to its official Twitter handle, UNESCO tweeted, “Dholavira: A Harappan City, in India, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations!”
The ongoing 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has already given India a new world heritage site in the form of the Rudreswara temple in Telangana, which dates back to the 13th century. With the addition of Rudreswara temple and Dholavira, India’s number of World Heritage sites has increased to 40.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that he is ‘absolutely delighted’ that the Harappan city of Dholavira has been added to the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
In a tweet, PM Modi reminisced about his first visit to the archaeological site and shared pictures of his visit when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. “Absolutely delighted by this news. Dholavira was an important urban centre and is one of our most important linkages with our past. It is a must-visit, especially for those interested in history, culture and archaeology,” the Prime Minister tweeted in reply to UNESCO’s announcement of the same.
He added, “I first visited Dholavira during my student days and was mesmerised by the place. As CM of Gujarat, I had the opportunity to work on aspects relating to heritage conservation and restoration in Dholavira. Our team also worked to create tourism-friendly infrastructure there.”
Earlier, Union Minister of Culture, Tourism G. Kishan Reddy took to Twitter to inform that Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given the UNESCO’s World Heritage Inscription.
“It gives immense pride to share with my fellow Indians that #Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given @UNESCO’s World Heritage Inscription. Another feather in India’s cap as we now enter the Super-40 club for World Heritage Site inscriptions,” the minister tweeted.
With this, India has 40 world heritage properties overall, which includes 32 cultural, 7 natural and one mixed property, a statement from the Minister of Culture, Tourism read. Italy, Spain, China, Germany and France are the only other countries that have 40 or more World Heritage sites.
Dholavira is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE. It is the sixth-largest of more than 1,000 Harappan sites discovered so far.