India’s Santiniketan And 3 Hoysala Temples Among The New UNESCO Heritage Sites List

It’s time to make your travel plans as we just got 42 new UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On September 18, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) revealed these spots at the World Heritage Committee’s ongoing session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Among the new entrants are India’s Santiniketan and Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, while other Asian sites include Vietnam’s Cat Ba Archipelago (which is an extension of Ha Long Bay), China’s Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, Gaya Tumuli in South Korea and sites in Cambodia, Mongolia and Indonesia. Additionally, Lviv and Kyiv have been added to UNESCO’s Endangered List.

These are the new UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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Getting a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List depends on several factors. The sites have to be of “outstanding universal value” or meet a minimum of one of the 10 criteria set by the organisation for their selection, which are regularly revised, according to the website.

The destinations added this year have been chosen from a list of global nominations that were submitted throughout 2022 and 2023. These sites can be categorised as Cultural, Natural and Mixed. Additionally, some places have been included in this year’s list other than the 42 sites owing to significant modifications made to their boundaries. Thus, these are not ‘newly inscribed’ but find a spot on the list. However, the World Heritage Committee’s session is on till September 25, and new sites may be added by then.

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Here are the newly inscribed cultural properties by UNESCO

1. Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, China
2. Deer Stone Monuments and Related Bronze Age Sites, Mongolia
3. Gaya Tumuli, Republic of Korea (South Korea)
4. Gordion, Türkiye
5. Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt, Germany
6. Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, Cambodia
7. Modernist Kaunas: Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939, Lithuania
8. National Archaeological Park Tak’alik Ab’aj, Guatemala
9. Old town of Kuldīga, Latvia
10. Prehistoric Sites of Talayotic Menorca, Spain
11. Santiniketan, India
12. Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
13. The Gedeo Cultural Landscape, Ethiopia
14. The Persian Caravanserai, Iran (Islamic Republic of)
15. Tr’ondëk-Klondike, Canada
16. Viking-Age Ring Fortresses, Denmark
17. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops, Czechia
18. Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan, State of Palestine
19. Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University, Russian Federation
20. Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route, Azerbaijan
21. Djerba: Testimony to a settlement pattern in an island territory, Tunisia
22. ESMA Museum and Site of Memory – Former Clandestine Center of Detention, Torture and Extermination, Argentina
23. Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, Netherlands
24. Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front), Belgium, France
25. Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, United States of America
26. Jodensavanne Archaeological Site: Jodensavanne Settlement and Cassipora Creek Cemetery, Suriname
27. Memorial sites of the Genocide: Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero, Rwanda
28. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, India
29. The Ancient Town of Si Thep and its Associated Dvaravati Monuments, Thailand
30. The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and its Historic Landmarks, Indonesia
31. The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, France
32. Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia, Türkiye
33. Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece

The natural properties that have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List this year

1. Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua, Congo
2. Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique, France
3. Anticosti, Canada
4. Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
5. Cold Winter Deserts of Turan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
6. Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, Italy
7. Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda
8. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, Tajikistan
9. ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid, Saudi Arabia

These five sites are mentioned on 2023’s list owing to modifications in the boundaries of existing sites:

1. Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba, Benin — cultural
2. Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zone, Portugal —cultural
3. Andrefana Dry Forests, Madagascar — natural
4. Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago, Vietnam — natural
5. Hyrcanian Forests, Azerbaijan, Iran (Islamic Republic of) — natural

Find out more about the new additions here

Hero and featured image credit: Sanjan Shetty/Unsplash

Related: A Pictorial Journey Of The UNESCO Heritage Sites Of India