India nominates Maratha Military Landscapes for UNESCO World Heritage list 2024-25

IndianBureaucracy, New Delhi – India Proposes ‘Maratha Military Landscapes’ for UNESCO World Heritage List 2024-25, encompassing Twelve Strategic Components. The nomination comprises renowned forts such as Salher, Shivneri, Lohgad, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu. These components, strategically positioned across diverse geographical and physiographic regions, exemplify the military prowess of the Maratha rule.

The ‘Maratha Military Landscapes of India,’ dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries, embody an exceptional fortification and military system conceived by the Maratha rulers. This intricate network of forts, exhibiting variations in hierarchies, scales, and typological features, is a testament to the integration of distinctive landscapes, terrains, and physiographic characteristics inherent to the Sahyadri mountain ranges, Konkan Coast, Deccan Plateau, and Eastern Ghats in the Indian Peninsula.

Currently, India boasts 42 World Heritage sites, with 34 designated as cultural, seven as natural, and one as a mixed site. Maharashtra contributes significantly with six World Heritage Sites, including Ajanta Caves (1983), Ellora Caves (1983), Elephanta Caves (1987), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004), Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018), and the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala as a serial property in the natural category (2012).

The ‘Maratha Military Landscapes of India,’ listed in the Tentative List of World Heritage sites in 2021, marks the sixth cultural property nominated from Maharashtra for inclusion in the World Heritage List.”