Incredible Treasures: UNESCO World Heritage Sites of India 

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The World Heritage Sites listing by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aims to promote awareness and safeguarding of heritage sites considered to have outstanding value for all humanity. There are 38 such sites in India, as of May 2021, which include 30 cultural sites, seven natural sites and one mixed site. This volume presents them all together for the first time, with informative, accessible commentary and stunning photographs.

This treasure trail begins deep in the jungles of central India, with the spirited figures that shimmer on the prehistoric cave walls of Bhimbetka. Caves of another kind draw us westwards, to the radiant artistry of the rock-cut sanctuaries of Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta Caves. Further north and east are monuments materially associated with the birth and spread of Buddhism across the subcontinent, all urgent testimonies to India's tolerant past. Elsewhere in the south, mighty stone temples rise in the air, from the Chola temples to the ruins of Hampi, and, in the east, from the Sun Temple to Khajuraho, presenting sacred and profane visions of faith. Other masterpieces of pluralism borrow from Hindu, Jain and Islamic traditions to fashion a distinct identity, like the Taj Mahal or Rani-ki-Vav, both expressions of grief turned into beauty. Finally, even very old cultures must come into the new, finding novel vocabularies from colonial masters and Christian Europe, as in the railways chugging up snowy Darjeeling, or Le Corbusier's Chandigarh.

India's natural odyssey takes us through forested glades that dot the country, harbouring flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world. From the gelid slopes of the Himalayas and their associated spiritual manifestations to the many wildlife sanctuaries, the natural and mixed properties include biospheres of exceptional beauty and sites of long interaction between people and the landscape.

Incredible Treasures is an eloquent homage to India's long, layered history, bearing witness to its rich biodiversity and the creativity and influence of multiple communities, crafts and religious traditions.

In the 167 countries where they are currently listed, UNESCO's World Heritage Sites are Ilandmarks of outstanding historical, cultural and natural significance. Enlisted under the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Natural and Cultural Heritage (1972), they are beacons of universal value and assets for the whole of humanity.

Today, India has thirty-eight magnificent World Heritage Sites-a number that we are certain will grow in the years ahead. The city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, inscribed in July 2019, was the most recent addition. Each of India's World Heritage Sites is a priceless marker of India's history and identity. Not only do they contribute to national pride, but their global recognition has also resulted in numerous other benefits. Every year, they receive millions of visitors, resulting in substantial economic gains for the communities where they are located. Typically, the presence of cultural and natural World Heritage Sites and related ancillary services tends to catalyse tourism, attract investment and sustain livelihoods.

The importance of World Heritage Sites to India's social and economic landscape and their impact on the public consciousness, therefore, cannot be underestimated.

Mahatma Gandhi has written eloquently of the "synthesis of the different cultures that have come to stay in India, that have influenced Indian life, and that in their turn have themselves been influenced by the spirit of the soil. These thirty-eight World Heritage Sites are physical manifestations of the cultural diversity and synthesis that India. Indeed, along with the traditional practices and art forms that constitute the country's rich intangible cultural heritage, we believe that its tangible World Heritage Sites reflect the very soul of India Published by UNESCO and Mapin Publishing, Incredible Treasures: UNESCO World Heritage Sites of India is the first attempt ever to present the country's thirty cultural heritage sites, including the cultural landscape of the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, seven natural sites and one mixed site, the Khangchendzonga National Park, between the covers of an illustrated book. We have no doubt that this meticulously researched publication, enhanced with lavish photographs, will become a collector's item almost instantly.

India The World Heritage Narrative Max Muller’s Statesment on India’s Culture Encapsulates the Ethos of its rish Meultural and natural heritage and its World Heritage Sites, which are a testimony to ax Muller's statement on India's culture truly encapsulates the ethos of its rich its invaluable treasures The Indian subcontinent is one of the largest geopolitical expanses in the world, with a huge diversity of heritage. It is well established that, historically, India was a melting pot of several civilisations and cultural exchanges and gave space to multiple faiths, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism. Islam. Sikhism, Christianity and others, at various stages in its history. This culture of assimilation" of ideas and beliefs is reflected in the current range of its World Heritage Sites that establish India as a repository of archetypal diversity and artistic excellence. A unique feature of many of India's World Heritage Sites is their continuity over centuries; age-old traditions that embody its living heritage continue to be in practice even today, be it at the Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the Great Living Chola Temples in Tamil Nadu, or the mosque at the iconic site of the Taj Mahal in Agra.