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India’s UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage sites has received five new additions, with four of them located in Madhya Pradesh. The new entries include the Udaigiri Caves, Bagh Cave Paintings, Group of Temples of the Chambal Valley and Ginnorgarh, along with a transnational proposal centred on the history of Satyagraha across India and South Africa.
PIB Culture described the development as a “proud milestone” for India’s heritage. In a post on X, it said the additions have taken India’s UNESCO Tentative List to 78 sites.
Five new sites join the list
The five additions are the Bagh Cave Paintings, Group of Temples of the Chambal Valley, Udaigiri Caves, Ginnorgarh and the India-South Africa serial transnational proposal titled Sites of Satyagraha.
- Udaigiri Caves: Located in Madhya Pradesh, the site features a rock-cut sacred landscape developed mainly under Gupta patronage between the late 4th and early 5th centuries. According to UNESCO, it has 20 excavated caves, along with sculptural panels, inscriptions, circulation paths and rock surfaces carrying early marks and inscriptions. Its topographical and hydrological features also form part of the wider ritual landscape.
- Bagh Cave Paintings: The Bagh caves are a group of nine rock-cut Buddhist caves on the southern slope of the Vindhyan range, beside the Baghni river in western Madhya Pradesh. They are the only sandstone outcrop in an otherwise basaltic region, which influenced their architectural forms and the preservation of their mural paintings.
- Ginnorgarh Fort: Located in central India, the fort was the principal fortified capital of the erstwhile Raj Gond rulers.
- Group of Temples of the Chambal Valley: This addition covers the Bateshwar, Padavali and Kakarmath temple complexes in Madhya Pradesh.
- Sites of Satyagraha: This is a proposed serial transnational property spanning India and South Africa, tracing the evolution of Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha from its conceptualisation in South Africa to its experimentation, consolidation and institutionalisation in India.
With four of the five new additions located in Madhya Pradesh, the state accounts for the largest share of the latest entries. The fifth is the proposed Sites of Satyagraha property spanning India and South Africa.
Satyagraha sites span India and South Africa
The proposed property consists of nine components, with two in South Africa and seven in India. Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa, from 1893 to 1914, before spending most of his life in India.
The two South African components are the Pietermaritzburg station and the Phoenix Settlement. The seven Indian components are the Mahatma Gandhi Satyagraha Smarak, Sabarmati Ashram, Mani Bhavan complex, Harijan Sevak Sangh complex, Sevagram Ashram, Aga Khan Palace and Gandhi Smriti residence.
According to UNESCO, the nine locations together trace different stages in the development of Satyagraha. Pietermaritzburg Station represents its beginnings as a form of resistance to racial discrimination. Phoenix Settlement, meanwhile, represents an exploratory phase centred on communities committed to truth and non-violence and became a prototype for later ashrams.
The Mahatma Gandhi Satyagraha Smarak, Sabarmati Ashram and Mani Bhavan represent the consolidation of the movement after Gandhi returned to India, including its further development into mass civil disobedience movements.
The remaining four sites, Harijan Sevak Sangh, Sevagram, Aga Khan Palace and Gandhi Smriti, represent what UNESCO describes as the institutionalisation phase, with the legacy of the movement preserved through these locations.
What the UNESCO Tentative List means
Being placed on the UNESCO Tentative List is an important step in the World Heritage process. A site must first be included on a country’s Tentative List before it can be considered for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
With the latest additions, India’s Tentative List now contains 78 sites.
(With inputs from PTI)
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