The city of Jaipur on Saturday made it to the list of World Heritage Sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The announcement came during the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Azerbaijan.
The committee is examining 35 nominations for inscription on the World Heritage Sites list during the session, which began on June 30 and will conclude on July 10.
Fourteen of the 35 sites have been inscribed on the list so far, including seven on Saturday. The other sites that were inscribed on the list on Saturday along with Jaipur are located in Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Japan and Laos.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was glad that Jaipur had been recognised as a World Heritage Site. “Jaipur is a city associated with culture and valour. Elegant and energetic, Jaipur’s hospitality draws people from all over,” Modi said in a tweet.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated the residents of Jaipur and said: “It is a matter of great pride that our Pink City Jaipur has been declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO. It will add to the glory of capital city of Rajasthan.”
“This new inscription is an exceptional example of interchange of ancient Hindu, Mughal and contemporary western ideas in town planning and architecture,” Eric Falt, director and UNESCO representative in India, said.
“The city was proposed to be nominated for its value of being an exemplary development in town planning and architecture that demonstrates an amalgamation and important exchange of ideas in the late medieval period,” UNESCO’s office in New Delhi had earlier said.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites had inspected the city in 2018 after its nomination, an unidentified senior official told PTI.
The historic walled city of Jaipur is also popularly known as “Pink City” for its trademark building colour. It was founded in 1727 under the patronage of Sawai Jai Singh II. It is the capital city of Rajasthan.
The World Heritage Committee comprises representatives from 21 states parties to the World Heritage Convention who meet annually. This committee is responsible for implementing the Convention. The UNESCO office in Delhi said that till date, 1,092 sites in 167 countries have been inscribed on the World Heritage List.
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