Top 05 World Heritage sites by UNESCO

WORLD HERITAGE SITES BY UNESCO 

Across the globe Currently there are 1121 number of heritage sites that are being considered and counted by UNESCO. Out of these 1121 number of heritage sites 869 number of heritage sites are considered as cultural and 213 are considered as Natural sites. Places that are considered in the Indian heritage sites include Ajanta and Ellora caves ,the Taj Mahal ,the Agra Fort ,the fatehpur sikri,  the Sunderbans and many more are included in this list. The list is going and never ending as India has a very beautiful heritage and culture.

FAMOUS WORLD HERITAGE SITES BY UNESCO 

1. TAJ MAHAL

Taj Mahal is also known as the symbol of love which was built by the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1632. The Taj Mahal took over a span of 22 years to be fully built. It is situated in Agra around 2.5 kms from the Agra Fort. It was built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal to be immortalized who had died in 1632 due to childbirth. The Taj Mahal is situated on the eastern part of the Agra city on the right or eastern bank of the Yamuna River.  Ustad Ahmed Lahauri who was the chief builder of the Taj Mahal was an Indian of persian descent. The complex consists of the main elements which are the main gateway , the garden , the mosque , the jawab and the mausoleum.  During 1638 – 1639 more than 20000 workers were hired from Europe,  India , Persia , Ottoman Empire to get the mausoleum completed itself at 1638-1639. All the buildings which were adjunct were completed by 1643 and the decoration was completed by at least 1647. The total land was 44 acre in general .  There was a tradition that was being told at that time that a mausoleum that was being built across the river for his own remains was not brought out to be successful as Shah Jahan was being captured and imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort for the rest of his life. 

2. THE AGRA FORT 

The fort of Agra which is also known as the Agra quila ,  is situated in Agra , India. In 1983 , it was named and tagged as the world heritage site by UNESCO.  The Agra fort is situated around 2.5 km away from the mighty Taj Mahal. It was the year 1565 AD , when it was designed and built by the great mughal emperor Akbar.  During the ancient times , Agra was the capital of India during the ancient times . Along this beautiful fort , runs the Yamuna river and it is thus built alongside it. The total area of the fort is 94 acre. And the fort has a semi circular plan. In total the fort has 4 gates out of which two of the fort’s gates  are named as the Lahori gate and the Delhi gate. The Agra fort was built after the Emperor Akbar came back from Fatehpur Sikri due to shortage of water in the area. The prince and the next Mughal emperor Jahangir was also born in the Agra Fort itself. The Agra Fort was thus made alongside the Yamuna river for water related issues so that they could be solved and in future there was no scarcity. The Agra fort was made wonderfully and amazingly and also by brilliant workers from all over the globe. 

It is situated in one of the historical cities of India, the Agra , located in Uttar Pradesh. Till 1638 , the Agra fort was the main residence of the Mughal Dynasty  of all the emperors.  But after 1638 , Delhi was the new capital to the Mughals as it was shifted from Agra due to many reasons. The Agra fort is considered as a world heritage site by UNESCO.  The Taj Mahal which is also known as its famous sister , this monument is situated 2.5kms northwest from the mighty Taj. A walled city can be resembled to the fort. In Ibrahim Lodhi’s palace , Babur who had attained victory had stayed in the fort after his victory in 1526 from the first battle of Panipat. Later on, a baoli was built by him in the fort. And following the years in 1530 , his prince Humayun was later crowned as the successor in the fort. But Humayun was then soon defeated in 1540 by Sher Shah Suri in Bilgram . Due to this , till 1555 the fort had remained in the trap of the Suris but it was soon  recaptured by Emperor Humayun. Hemu , who was the general of Adil Shah Suri , had recaptured Agra in 1556.The governor was pursued by Hemu and fled to Delhi where in the battle of Tughlagabad he was encountered with the Mughals. Due to its central situation, it’s importance was soon realized by Emperor Akbar who came in Agra in 1558 and soon made it his capital. It was realized by the historian of Emperor Akhbar who was none other than Abul Fazal that it was a brick fort which could be named as badalgarh. It was at that time in a very ruined condition and all the walls and segments were very poor and destroyed but then it was Emperor Akbar who had made it built and renovated by calling the workers throughout the globe. Majorly it was the use of red sandstone through which it was built. The red sandstone was majorly taken from the Dhaulpur district from Rajasthan and also the Barauli area in it. The plan of the architects was to make it with bricks in the inner area and the outer area could be made with red sandstone and covered properly. The construction work continued for 8 long years and some 4000 builders had daily worked upon it. And thus it was then finally and fully completed in 1573. The site was taken in its current state in the reign of Emperor Akbar’s grandson the Shah Jahan.   He made the mighty Taj Mahal in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. But unlike his own grandfather the grandson would always like to build the monuments with White Marbles rather than using much red  sandstone. Shah Jahan was restrained and deposed by his son Aurangeb during the end of his life in the fort.  Musamman Burj , which is a tower of the Taj Mahal with a white marble balcony, it is often rumoured that Shah Jahan had died there instead of the Agra Fort. During the 18th century,  it is well known that the Agra fort was captured and attacked by the maratha empire. And thereafter the fort had changed many hands between the marathas and their foes a lit number of times. After their defeat, at the third battle of Panipat which was led by Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1761 for the next decade , the marathas remained totally out of their region. The fort was taken in 1785 by Mahadji Shinde. The fort was also a site of rebellion during the 1857 war with the Britishers.

3. AJANTA CAVES

The Ajanta caves which are located in the north eastern Maharashtra in Ajanta village are the temples and monasteries from the Buddhist rock cut caves which are often mostly celebrated by their paintings on the wall.

 During the 1st and the 7th century BCE there was excavation of some of the 30 caves which consists of two different types. These are the chaityas and also the viharas. The rich ornamentation and the sculpture of the caitya pillars are splendid. Colourful Buddhist legends and divinities are depicted by these paintings with vitality and full exuberance that is unsurpassed by the Indian art. In 1983 , the caves were recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 

4. KONARK

The very famous sun temple of Konark is situated in the Puri district of the Odisha state . Konark lies towards the Bay of Bengal and is 60 kms away from the capital city of the state Bhubaneswar . The sun temple also known as the black pagoda which was built from black granite during the reign of the king Narsimha Deva I. The temple is considered as a world heritage  site. But on today’s date , the temple is mostly at its ruins and the collection of the sculptures are housed all in the sun temple museum konark. This museum is run by the Archeological survey of India.  

The Konark Dance festival is also a very famous annual dance festival which is being celebrated and is devoted purely to indian dance forms which includes the traditional and classical dance of India the Odissi .

5. KHAJURAHO

There are a group of temples of the hindus and jains in the district of Chhatarpur , Madhya Pradesh which are situated approximately 175 kms southeast of Jhansi city. These temples are considered as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The architectural symbolism of the temples which is famous for nagara styles and erotic sculptures. 

Mostly the Khajuraho temples were built during the ancient times of 885 AD and 1050 AD by the help of Chandela Dynasty.  By the 12th century,  the Khajuraho temples record 85 temples which are spread over a land of 25 square kms . But unfortunately out of these only 25 temples have survived which are spread over an area of 6 square kms. The Kandariya Mahadev Temple which is from one of the surviving temples is always splendid and decorated with a profusion of sculptures with details and expressiveness and symbolism of the ancient Indian Art. 

The boys used to live in hermitages when these temples were built . This was done by the help of the sculptures to learn the meaning of household by remaining brahmacharis until manhood.

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