Gujarat’s Vadnagar town, the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, and the rock cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura have been added to the tentative list of UNCESO World Heritage Sites.
- With this, India now has 52 sites on UNESCO Tentative List.
Sun Temple at Modhera
- The Sun Temple at Modhera which is dedicated to the sun god, is the earliest of such temples which set trends in architectural and decorative details, representing the Solanki style at its best.
- The temple description states that it is built in Maru-gurjara architectural style, consists of the main temple shrine (garbhagriha), a hall (gadhamandapa), an outer hall or assembly hall (Sabhamandapa or rangamandapa) and a sacred pool (Kunda), which is now called Ramakunda.
Vadnagar
- Vadnagar is a municipality in Mehsana district of Gujarat. A multilayered historic town, Vadnagar has a recorded past stretching back to nearly 8th century BC.
- The town still retains a large number of historic buildings that are primarily religious and residential in nature.
- Vadnagar town is famous for its torans, a pair of 12th century columns supporting an arch, about 40 feet tall built in red and yellow sandstone, just north of the walled town. They stand majestically on the bank of Sharmistha Talav, on a road going down from Arjun Bari.
- They are among the few surviving examples of the entrance gates, once a regular feature of the architecture of Gujarat in Solanki period. The carving style is similar to the Rudra Mahalaya at Sidhpur.
Unakoti
- Unakoti is an ancient holy place associated with Shaiva worship. It is ‘Shaiba’ (Saivite) pilgrimage and dates back to 7th – 9th centuries if not earlier.
- The site is a massive gallery set in a forested area displaying a number of towering low- relief images in a unique style, making it a master- piece of human creative genius.
- Unakoti means one less than a crore and it is said that these many rock cut carvings are available here.
- Among the rock cut carvings, the central Shiva head and gigantic Ganesha figures deserve special mention.
- The central Shiva head known as ‘Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava’ is about 30 feet high including an embroidered head-dress which itself is 10 feet high
