World Heritage sites of India

UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) are important places for cultural or natural heritage as defined in the UNESCO Convention established in 1972, and India ranks sixth in the world with thirty-seven sites. These following sites are among the ten best World Heritage sites in India.

Agra Fort

The Agra Al Hamra Fort is located in the city of Agra along the Taj Mahal Gardens, and it was constructed of red sandstone in the shape of a crescent that represents an impenetrable edifice, in the era of the Mughal era of the ruler Jalaluddin Akbar, where it was considered a strategic military point in addition to being its residence .. The castle was distinguished .. From the inside, with an impressive architecture that made it one of the five best Indian buildings, this was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1983.

Taj Mahal

Known as the most beautiful example of Islamic architecture in India, the Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in the city of Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It was built by King Shah Jahan, the Mughal Emperor in the white alabaster, to be a shrine for the remains of his wife and sweetheart, “Argan Bano in Jim”, which was famous for the title of “Excellent Place”, in honor of her memory, and was erected at every corner of the minaret, and occupies the central part of it the main dome, and below it is the mausoleum of the Princess, and next to it Her husband’s tomb, both decorated with inscription, and in 1983 UNESCO included the Taj Mahal as a World Heritage site.

Khajurah Archeology Collection

Khajuraho is a city located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in the Chhatrapur district, and is considered one of the most famous tourist destinations in India, as it has the largest collection of Hindu and Jain carved temples, which is the Khajuraho monuments group located 175 kilometers southeast of Jahansi. These temples are famous for Constructed during the Chandilla Dynasty with its architectural symbolism being constructed in the style of a nagara based on streamlined shapes, this was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on October 15, 1982.

Elephanta Caves

Elephanta Island is located in the Arabian Sea, ten kilometers from the southeastern coast of Mumbai, and there are a group of temples that are caves carved into the rock, the most famous of which is “Elephanta Caves” which is one of the most famous landmarks of India because of its historical treasures and archaeological artifacts. And the artistic inscriptions, which were built between the fifth and eighth centuries, and these caves were declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Mahabodhi Temple

One of the four most sacred temples related to the life of Buddha, the “Mahabodhi” temples characterized by their hierarchical form are located on the bank of the “Niranyana” River in Bodh Gaya, where Emperor Ashoka built the first temple in the third century BC, while the current temple dates back to the fifth or sixth century, It is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the country and one of the rare temples from the end of the Gupta Empire era. These temples are considered the main headquarters of the so-called Sri Maha Bodhi Tree, under which “Siddhartha Gautama” sat for seven weeks until he gained knowledge and enlightenment to become what is known today as the wise Buddha ascetic. In June 2002, the Mahabodhi Temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Red Fort

The Red Fort, known as the Delhi Fort, is a fortress built by the Fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the capital city of Delhi in the seventh century, in the form of a fortified monument with huge sandstone walls. It was his residence for nearly 200 years, and the political center of the Mughal government at the time. The structure of this fort represents the cultural confusion that the Mongols brought to the country, and is the culmination of the Mughal architecture style, which includes a mixture of Persian, Timor and Hindu architecture, in addition to the fact that the fort is decorated with marble decorated with inscriptions, plant decoration and double domes, which gives it a global value in the field of architectural design. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort complex.

Humpy

Hampi archeology collection became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986 for the privacy of its features, after it was in the past the capital of the former Vijayanagara Empire, the last of the great Hindu kingdoms, and these historical monuments spread over thirty kilometers and are organized in groups all in the village of Hampi, north of Karnataka, which It was one of the richest and largest cities in the world, where the architectural construction of temples and palaces flourished, and it also controlled the spice and cotton trade. The demand for these monumental monuments remains strong by both tourists and locals.

Fakhour Secri

Hathboor Sekri is a city in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh state that was founded in 1569 by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585. It remains one of the most important walled royal cities established by the Mughal emperors in the country, as it includes a chain of palaces, a section for the harem and courts And a mosque, in addition to private buildings, all make it one of the best preserved examples of Mughal architecture in India. It took nearly 15 years to work in it, since the emperor Akbar was keen in building it to dictate its architectural style, and sought to revive the masterpieces of royal monuments with famous Persian characteristics. This was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1986.

Chola Temples

Chola temples are three large Indian shrines, the construction of which was completed between the early eleventh and twelfth centuries by the Chola dynasty. The Prihadsvar temple was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage first in 1987, while the rest of the temples were listed later, and these temples are one of the Hindu temples It dates back to the Chola dynasty in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which ruled various parts of the southern Indian subcontinent until the thirteenth century AD, where its primary residence was in the fertile valley near the Kaviri River.

Sun Temple (Konark)

This temple was dedicated to the Hindu sun god, a 13th-century temple in Konark, 35 km northeast of Buri, on the coast of Odisha. He is famous for the structures that survived the erosion with her intricate artworks, icons and important historical subjects, and in particular for depicting an important memorial show represented in this god’s chariot with its twenty-four wheels carved with unique symbolic motifs. The temple was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984.