Dholavira, a Harappan City in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list on July 27, 2021.
- With this successful nomination, India has 40 world heritage properties overall, which includes 32 cultural, 7 natural and one mixed property.
- India submitted the nomination dossier for Dholavira: A Harappan City to the World Heritage Centre in January, 2020. The site was on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014.
About Dholavira
- Dholavira: a Harappan city, is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE.
- Being the 6th largest of more than 1,000 Harappan sites discovered so far, and occupied for over 1,500 years Dholavira not only witnesses the entire trajectory of the rise and fall of this early civilization of humankind, but also demonstrates its multifaceted achievements in terms of urban planning.
- The property comprises two parts: a walled city and a cemetery to the west of the city. The walled city consists of a fortified Castle with attached fortified Bailey and Ceremonial Ground, and a fortified Middle Town and a Lower Town. A series of reservoirs are found to the east and south of the Citadel. The great majority of the burials in the Cemetery are memorial in nature.
- Dholavira is an outstanding example of Harappan urban planning, with its preconceived city planning, multi-layered fortifications, sophisticated water reservoirs and drainage system.
(PIB)
