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1. World Heritage Convention 1972:
On 16 November 1972, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Conference adopted the World Heritage Convention at its 17th session in Paris on 16 November 1972. The Convention came into force in 1975. In August 1974, Australia became one of the first countries to ratify the Convention. India formally signed the Convention on 14 November 1977. World Heritage Sites are cultural and/or natural sites landmarks considered to be of 'Outstanding Universal Value', which are inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO after thorough scrutiny and evaluation. These places or buildings are considered to have special importance for everyone beyond boundary limits of the country in the territorial jurisdiction of which the given site is located.
2. Objectives:
The Convention sets out the duties of Member States, called State Parties, in identifying potential heritage sites—(i) cultural, (ii) natural and (iii) mixed, within their sovereign territories and their role in protecting and preserving them. By signing the Convention, each country pledges to conserve not only the World Heritage sites situated on its territory, but also to protect its national heritage.
3. World Heritage Sites in India and North East India:
As of now, out of a total of 1223 World Heritage Sites (called properties) across the globe in 168 signatory countries, there are 43 World Heritage Sites in different states of India. Out of these 43 heritage sites, 35 are cultural, 7 are natural, and one, the Khangchendzonga National Park (in Sikkim), mixed type.
Out of the 35 cultural heritage sites, 1 site, Moidams – the Mound-Burial system of the Ahom Dynasty is in Assam and of the 7 natural heritage sites in India, 2 (two) sites, Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary are in Assam.
In this context, "Moidams—the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty", in Charaideo of Assam is the first cultural heritage site from North East India to be inscribed as UNESCO's World Heritage Site. In view of its Outstanding Universal Value, Moidams—the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty was listed in Tentative List of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites on 15 April 2014.
4. How a heritage site becomes UNESCO’s World Heritage Site:
Governments of countries (States Parties) that have ratified the Convention 1972 identify and nominate suitable heritage sites to the World Heritage Committee for inscription on the list maintained by UNESCO. The nominated heritage sites is required to justify the Outstanding Universal Value based on one or more specified heritage criteria, which are 6 in number in case of cultural heritage sites, and 4, in case of natural heritage sites. As per the latest Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 1972 of UNESCO (July 2021), one State Party (one country) can only send one nomination per year under the category of cultural heritage category, and one under the natural heritage property.
A nominated property is then independently evaluated by two Advisory Bodies mandated by the World Heritage Convention: the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which respectively provide the World Heritage Committee with evaluations of the cultural heritage and natural heritage site respectively.
For India, Archaeological Survey of India is the nodal agency to forward all nomination dossiers to UNESCO for evaluation.
5. Preparation of World Heritage Nomination Dossier of the Charaideo Royal Ahom Moidams:
In view of the Outstanding Universal Value of the Charaideo Royal Ahom Moidams, the Government of Assam has accorded an approval of Rs. 25.00 Cr for protection, conservation and development of the Charaideo Archaeological Site under the protection of Directorate of Archaeology, Government of Assam. The Directorate of Archaeology prepared and submitted the in-house DPR on Infrastructure/Protection, Preservation of Charaideo Maidams Archaeological Site, and the DPR received Administrative Approval of the Government of Assam on 25 February 2020.
With a view to ensuring capacity building of the Directorate of Archaeology, the Government of Assam decided to engage a domain expert in archaeology, and accordingly Dr. K.C.Nauriyal, former Director of Archaeological Survey of India, who has experience of preparing World Heritage Nomination Dossier of Rani-ki-Vav (in Gujarat) in-house was engaged. Dr. Deepi Rekha Kouli, Director, Directorate of Archaeology and her team of Archaeologists and Conservators, under the overall guidance of Dr. K.C.Nauriyal started preparation of the World Heritage Nomination Dossier in respect of Charaideo royal moidams since January 2021 in technical collaboration with ASI. The Directorate of Archaeology submitted the dossier to the Archaeological Survey of India in January 2023. The last date to reach the nomination dossier UNESCO office in Paris is 1 February each year. On 26th July 2024, Moidams—the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty was inscribed as the 43rd World Heritage Property of India at the 46th World Heritage Committee Meeting in New Delhi. It is also the 3rd World Heritage Property of Assam.
The total area of the nominated property is 95.02 hectares and consists of 90 Moidams of various shapes and sizes. This property is maintained on one part by the Guwahati Circle, Archaeological Survey of India and Directorate of Archaeology, Department of Indigenous and Tribal Faith and Culture, Govt. of Assam.