Six Madhya Pradesh Heritage Sites Included in Tentative UNESCO List

• 18 Mar 2024

Why in News?

Recently, six heritage sites in Madhya Pradesh have been included in the tentative United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list.

Key Points

• The sites included in the new list included Gwalior Fort, the Historical Group of Dhamnar, Bhojeshwar Mahadev Temple, Rock Art Sites of Chambal Valley, Khooni Bhandara, Burhanpur, and God Memorial of Ramnagar, Mandla.
• In 2010 efforts were started to include the underground water structure Khooni Bhandara in the list of UNESCO's World Heritage.
  • In 2013, a UNESCO team came to see this structure. All the shortcomings pointed out by them were rectified.
  • Now the district administration, municipal corporation administration and Madhya Pradesh government have prepared an action plan to provide facilities here.

Khooni Bhandara

• It is an underground water management system comprising eight waterworks built in the historical city of Burhanpur in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
• These Mughal period waterworks of Burhanpur form one of the most significant historic water systems in India.
• Built on a similar Persian qanat approach as also in the existing historic towns of Aurangabad and Bidar these water systems in Burhanpur were constructed in 1615 CE.

Gwalior Fort

• The Gwalior Fort is a hill fort near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. The fort has existed at least since the 10th century, and the inscriptions and monuments found in the fort indicate that it may have existed as early as the beginning of the 6^th century.
• It has been held by many dynasties like the Hunas, the Gurjara – Pratiharas, the Kachchhapaghatas, the Tomars, the Lodis and the Mughals.
• The Fort contains several temples and structures.

Historical Group of Dhamnar

• The Dhamnar caves are located on a hill near the village of Dhamnar in the Mandsaur district of Madhya pradesh.
• This rock cut site consists of a total of 51 caves of varying sizes carved into the laterite hill.
• The hill consists of two groups of structures, the series of Buddhist caves and the hindu temple complex known as the Dharmarajeshwara temple, also called Dharmanath temple.

Bhojeshwar Mahadev Temple

• The Bhojeshwar Temple is an incomplete Hindu temple in Bhojpur village of Madhya Pradesh.
• The temple's construction is believed to have started in the 11^th century, during the reign of the Paramara king Bhoja.
• The construction was abandoned for unknown reasons, with the architectural plans engraved on the surrounding rocks.