UNESCO recognises Maratha Military landscapes as a world heritage site

India Today

3 days ago

UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed the Maratha Military Landscapes twelve forts arching from the Sahyadri peaks to Konkan's sea bastions and the granite outpost of Gingee.Conceived between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, they knit together hill-hugging ramparts, rain-harvesting reservoirs and coastal redoubts that powered Maratha resurgence against much larger empires. India's forty-fourth inscription is therefore not merely an architectural victory; it reminds us that strategic imagination can be as deserving of recognition as palatial splendour. advertisementBeyond the New Laureates The Maratha listing opens the door to a wider mosaic of sites equally poised for global recognition. In the Chambal ravines near Gwalior, the circular Chausath Yogini temple at Mitawali often hailed as a proto-Parliament design and the delicately carved Padawali fortress, dubbed a "mini Khajuraho," illustrate the fusion of tantric ritual, military defence and fine sculpture. Far north-east, Tripura's Unakoti hill bears seventh-century bas-reliefs so monumental they have been called an "Angkor in the clouds." Karnataka's megalithic Hire Benakal plateau preserves a prehistoric field of stone dolmens. Together they show how India's geography, from the Chambal badlands to the lush hills of Tripura, offers a time-capsule of civilisations waiting to be inscribed. Tapping India's Intangible Wealth UNESCO's brief extends beyond masonry. Its Intangible Cultural Heritage list already celebrates Indian practices from Vedic chanting to Yoga and Kolkata's Durga Puja carnival, but many living traditions remain offstage.
The Nashik dhol war rhythms that still thunder across Raigad, the Koli sea songs mapping Konkan currents, or the oral ballads of Sahyadri hillmen each breathe life into the stones. Gond bana storytelling, Himachali pahari weaving and Khasi monolith rituals are further candidates for global acknowledgment, illustrating that India's heritage beats as much in drum-skins and looms as in brick and basalt. Lessons in Civic Stewardship from the West Western countries show how broad-based public engagement can turbo-charge preservation. In the United Kingdom, the National Trust's recent "Deep Time" citizen-science project enlisted more than 1,000 volunteers dubbed "Pastronauts"-to analyse LiDAR data across 512 km, discovering 12,802 previously unknown archaeological sites in just three months. Finland's Adopt a Monument scheme lets neighbourhood groups "adopt" historic structures; over 70 sites are already under volunteer care, their upkeep guided by museum professionals. Across the Atlantic, the U.S. National Park Service channels nearly 300,000 volunteers who donate more than 6.5 million hours each year through its Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) programme, a contribution valued at over $185 million. These models prove that when citizens become custodians, heritage management gains both manpower and emotional investment. From Conservation to Celebration India already channels similar enthusiasm. INTACH's 230 chapters and thousands of school Heritage Clubs equip students to document neighbourhood shrines and step-wells. advertisementThe Aga Khan Trust's craft-centred renewal of Humayun's Tomb wove 200,000 artisan work-days into a single restoration campaign, reviving skills and livelihoods alongside stone. Corporate-community partnerships forged under the Adopt-a-Heritage/Monument Mitra banner have upgraded visitor facilities from Red Fort to the hidden gem of Chandragiri. What links these successes is a three-way handshake: public bodies set standards, private sponsors underwrite logistics, and citizen groups provide passion and vigilance. When trekkers sweep litter from Lohagad, when villagers stage a Koli Folk-Fest beside Suvarnadurg, or when architecture students create QR-coded trails around Unakoti, preservation shifts from being a duty to becoming a celebration. Small local grants-crowdfunded or CSR-backed often spark the most inventive outcomes: poetry recitals beneath Padawali's torana, drone-camera surveys of Hire Benakal, or travelling exhibitions that pair Chausath Yogini's iconography with contemporary art. Each micro-project multiplies public pride in ways that no centrally run campaign could script. A Call to Co-Stewardship The Maratha forts' UNESCO medal is a milestone; the greater triumph will be an ethos in which every Indian-archivist or influencer, mason or manager-owns a thread of the national tapestry. Imagine schoolchildren charting Raigad's rain-water tanks for a science fair, Koli fishermen guiding tourists through Suvarnadurg's tidal moat, or marathon runners raising conservation funds along the ramparts of Rajgad. In such moments heritage is not merely safeguarded; it is performed. Partnership, not prescription, will carry the day. Institutions can safeguard bylaws and lab protocols, but the songs, stories and entrepreneurial sparks that make a monument sing come from the ground up. By shifting focus from conservation alone to celebration-from guarding the past to animating it-India can ensure that its forts, temples, looms and legends remain both anchors of identity and springboards for collective creativity.With inputs from Maitridevi Sisodia is a Deputy Collector posted in Ahmedabad, an award-winning author, and women's rights advocate. She is also passionate about rural development, youth empowerment and social equality. Her writings are widely published and acclaimed. She's a speaker at national and global forums. - EndsTune InMust Watch