Union Minister for Culture G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Photo exhibition on the Baolis of Delhi “Absent Appearance- A Shifting score of water bodies” on the occasion of World Heritage Day as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav at Purana Qila today in New Delhi. Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal also graced the event. Officers of Ministry of Culture and ASI were also present on this occasion.
The World Heritage Day is also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites and is meant to create awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage. The theme for World Heritage Day 2022, is “Heritage and Climate”.
Reddy said, “Worshipping nature is within our traditions and cultural heritage of the country. Today, our responsibility increases as the whole world looks upto India which can give ways to solve the problems related to climate change and preserving cultural heritage”.
At present India is a member of the “World Heritage Committee” of UNESCO. There are 40 world heritage sites in India out of which 32 are cultural, 7 are natural sites and 1 mixed category. Out of these, 24 monuments and archaeological sites are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
In the list of World Heritage of 2021, the beautiful architectural marvel “Ramappa Temple” built in the 13th century of Kakatiya style and the ancient Harappan city of Dholavbira were included. In addition to this, 49 sites are listed in the tentative list.
The Union Minister also spoke about the efforts and the leadership shown by the Prime Minister in repatriating our heritage such as idols that were taken from India. “Today, about 228 heritage objects have been returned to India from various parts of the world. Before, 2014 there were only 13 objects that were returned”.
