PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- 38th World Heritage Site of India
1 . 38th World Heritage Site
Context : India gets its 38th World Heritage Site as Pink City Jaipur
About the Release
- India’s nomination of the Jaipur City, Rajasthan got inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO during the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held at Baku, Azerbaijan.
- The nomination of Jaipur City has successfully been done by complying with the various UNESCO guidelines of 2017.
- With Successful inscription of Jaipur City, India has 38 world heritage sites , that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties and 1 mixed site.
- India’s nomination was initially recommended by the ICOMOS (advisory body of World Heritage (WH) Centre for cultural sites) as Deferral, but the 21 nation World Heritage Committee debated it and after discussion decided to inscribe it on the World Heritage list.
Why Jaipur
- The City of Jaipur is an exceptional urban example in indigenous city planning and construction in South Asia.
- Unlike other medieval cities of the region, Jaipur was deliberately planned as a new city on the plains open for trade as opposed to hilly terrain and military cities of past, though its planning still ensured a response to the surrounding hill tops in all directions.
- The site selected within the valley that lay to the south of Amber hills was comparatively flat and unmarred by any previous construction.
- Besides an exemplary planning, its iconic monuments such as the Govind Dev temple, City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal excel in artistic and architectural craftsmanship of the period.
- Jaipur is an expression of the astronomical skills, living traditions, unique urban form and exemplary foresighted city planning of an 18th century city from India.
- Jaipur is an exemplary development in town planning and architecture that demonstrates amalgamation and important interchange of several ideas over the late medieval period.
About World Heritage Site
- A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties. The sites are judged important to the collective interests of humanity.
- To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.
Benefits
- It brings international attention to the need for the preservation and conservation of the site.
- It brings tourism to the site, with its accompanying economic benefits to the host country and local area.
- It can provide funds for restoration, preservation, and training. For example, in 2001, the Taliban destroyed two 6th century, 150-ft. statues of Buddha carved into the mountainside in the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. The site has received more than $4 million from UNESCO to help with reconstruction and to hire a sculptor to re-carve some of the damaged stone
- It promotes national and local pride in the natural and man-made wonders of the country.
- It promotes close ties with the United Nations system and the prestige and support it provides.
- It provides access to global project management resources.
- It facilitates creating partnerships between government, the private sector, and NGOs to achieve conservation goals.
- The site is protected under the Geneva Convention against destruction or misuse during wartime.
Selection Criteria
- To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
- to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
- to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
- to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
- to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
- to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
- to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
- to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
- to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
- to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.
Types of World Heritage Sites
- Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and works of monumental sculpture or painting.
- Natural heritage sites are restricted to those natural areas that (1) furnish outstanding examples of Earth’s record of life or its geologic processes, (2) provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes, (3) contain natural phenomena that are rare, unique, superlative, or of outstanding beauty, or (4) furnish habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants or are sites of exceptional biodiversity.
- Mixed heritage sites contain elements of both natural and cultural significance.
Process of getting into the list
- The first step involves creating a detailed dossier showing the outstanding universal value of the site, besides meeting a few other criteria.
- Once the documentation is complete, it requires a push by the State party or the country where the site is located.
- The property is then evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) then provides advice on conservation of the site, and training.
- After all these steps, the World Heritage Committee evaluates the site and decides to inscribe it or send back the nomination.