3 cultural places of India have been included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage.
These include the Sun Temple of Modhera, the historic city of Vadnagar in Gujarat and the rock-cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura.
On inclusion of these places in UNESCO’s list, Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy congratulated on social media.
He said congratulations India! India has added 3 more sites to the tentative list of UNESCO. The first is Vadnagar multi-level historical city of Gujarat, the second is the Sun Temple of Modhera and the third is the sculptures carved on stones in the Unakoti series of Unakoti district, Tripura.
On the tweet of the Union Minister, the Archaeological Survey of India said that this will promote the cultural heritage of India.
The ASI said that inclusion of Modhera’s Sun Temple and surrounding monuments, sculptures of Unakoti and Vadnagar city in the UNESCO’s possible list will encourage Indian cultural heritage.
Sun Temple
The Sun Temple is located in Modhera , Gujarat. It was built in 1026 AD. It was built by Suryavanshi Solanki King Bhimdev I.
It has been constructed in such a way that the rays of the sun fall on it from sunrise to sunset. The walls of the sanctum sanctorum of the Sun Temple have been carved.
This temple is divided into 3 parts. It has Surya Kund, Sabha Mandap and Gudh Mandap. There are stairs to reach the kund.
Unakoti
Special things about the idols of Unakoti- Idols have been made by cutting stones in Unakoti district of Tripura.
It is said that there are total 99 lakh 99 thousand 999 idols are there in Unakoti. Who made these idols and when? There is no evidence for this. This is a mystery. Because of being mysterious, it has been named Unakoti. It means one less in a crore. There are dense forests and marshy land here and there in Unakoti.
It is believed that once Lord Shiva was going somewhere with one crore deities.
When night fell, all the gods asked Lord Shiva to rest in Unakoti. Lord Shiva agreed. But he said that everyone has to leave this place before sunrise. But when morning came, only Lord Shiva could wake up. The rest were sleeping. This enraged Lord Shiva and cursed everyone to turn into stone. That’s why there are less than one idol in one crore.
Vadnagar
Vadnagar is a small city in Gujarat. According to archaeological experts, this city is 2 thousand years old.
Remains of Buddhist period have been found in excavation in Vadnagar. In which a statue of Buddha, shell bangles, artefacts and stupas have been found from the Gupta period.
In the 12th century, Kumarapala Raja built walls around the city. In which there were 6 doors. It is believed that there were more than 3 thousand temples here in the medieval era.
