UPSC Prelims 2024 Q65: India's UNESCO Sites of 2023 — Explained
Consider the following properties included in the World Heritage List released by UNESCO:
1. Shantiniketan
2. Rani-ki-Vav
3. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas
4. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya
How many of the above properties were included in 2023?
- Only one
- Only two
- Only three
- All four
Answer: (b) Only two
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Santiniketan in West Bengal was inscribed on 17 September 2023, at the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (10–25 September 2023). Debendranath Tagore set it up as an ashram in 1863. In 1901 Rabindranath Tagore began turning it into a residential school and centre for art. It had been on India's Tentative List since 2010, and the nomination dossier was sent in January 2021.
- 2: incorrect — Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen's Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat, was inscribed in 2014, not 2023. The Ministry of Culture's list of India's World Heritage properties gives its inscription year as 2014.
- 3: correct — The Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas was inscribed on 18 September 2023 at the same Riyadh session. It became India's 42nd World Heritage property. It is a serial property of three Karnataka temples: Chennakeshava at Belur, Hoysaleshvara at Halebidu and Keshava at Somanathapura. It was inscribed under criteria (i), (ii) and (iv).
- 4: incorrect — The Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, was inscribed in 2002. It is one of India's older World Heritage sites and has nothing to do with the 2023 session.
How to eliminate
You need to know inscription years to solve this, but two of the four can be ruled out with basic knowledge. The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya is an old, well-known site (2002). Rani-ki-Vav has been a World Heritage site since 2014 and is widely known from the back of the newer ₹100 note. That leaves only Santiniketan and the Hoysala temples, both of which were in the news in September 2023. Option logic also helps. UNESCO's Operational Guidelines let a country nominate only one property a year, so four Indian sites in one year is very unlikely. Fact to remember: India got two sites in 2023, Santiniketan (41st) and the Hoysala ensembles (42nd), both at the Riyadh session.
Know more
How a site gets on the World Heritage List
- A country first puts a site on its Tentative List. Later it sends a full nomination dossier.
- Advisory bodies evaluate the site: ICOMOS for cultural sites and IUCN for natural sites.
- The 21-member World Heritage Committee decides on inscription at its annual session. India served its fourth term on the Committee from 2021 to 2025.
- A site needs Outstanding Universal Value under at least one of ten criteria. Criteria (i)–(vi) are cultural and (vii)–(x) are natural.
- A country can nominate only one property a year.
India's recent inscriptions
| Year | Property | State | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Dholavira: a Harappan City | Gujarat | 40th |
| 2021 | Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple | Telangana | 39th |
| 2023 | Santiniketan | West Bengal | 41st |
| 2023 | Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas | Karnataka | 42nd |
| 2024 | Moidams of the Ahom dynasty, Charaideo | Assam | 43rd |
| 2025 | Maratha Military Landscapes of India | Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu | 44th |
| 2026 | Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath | Uttar Pradesh | 45th |
India's older sites that UPSC tends to mix with the new ones
| Property | Year |
|---|---|
| Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bodh Gaya | 2002 |
| Jantar Mantar, Jaipur | 2010 |
| Rani-ki-Vav, Patan | 2014 |
| Nalanda Mahavihara | 2016 |
After 2023, India's 42 properties were 34 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed (Khangchendzonga National Park). The Hoysala temples combine Nagara, Bhumija and Dravida features. This is why they are usually placed in the mixed Vesara tradition of the Deccan.
In the news
India got two new World Heritage sites in September 2023 at the extended 45th World Heritage Committee session in Riyadh: Santiniketan on 17 September and the Hoysala temples on 18 September. This was the biggest heritage news of the year before the June 2024 Prelims. UPSC mixed the two new sites with two older, well-known ones.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas: Statement 3 names this serial property, so you need to know its three Karnataka temples and when it joined the list.
- Rani ki vav: Statement 2 depends on when this Patan stepwell was inscribed, not just on its being a World Heritage site.
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India: Explains what inscription on UNESCO's list means, which is the event whose year the question tests.
- Vesara style: Hoysala temples are usually classed as Vesara, which helps you recognise the property named in statement 3.
- Chennakeshava temple: The Belur Chennakeshava temple is one part of the Hoysala ensemble in statement 3.