Guwahati: Ending the state's long anticipated wait, the historic Charaideo Moidam, the mound burial system of Ahom Dynasty, bearing the 600-year golden history of Ahom rule, has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, making it the first cultural property from the Northeast to bag the prestigious tag.
The decision to include the monuments, the sacred burial grounds of the Ahom Dynasty, which tells the story of Ahom Kingdom and their glory, was taken up at the 46th conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi from July 21.
Taking to his 'X' handle to announce this, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted, "THIS IS HUGE. The Moidams make it to the #UNESCO World Heritage list under the category Cultural Property - a great win for Assam Thank You Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji , Members of the @UNESCO World Heritage Committee and to the people of Assam."
THIS IS HUGE 🤩
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 26, 2024
The Moidams make it to the #UNESCO World Heritage list under the category Cultural Property - a great win for Assam
Thank You Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji , Members of the @UNESCO World Heritage Committee and to the people of Assam 🙏
1/3 pic.twitter.com/ALia92ZGUq
What is Charaideo Moidam?
The historic Charaideo Moidam's way to the list of World Heritage Sites got a huge boost soon after the nomination of Moidam was accepted in UNESCO without any hiccups. Charaideo Moidam is the only nomination sent by India in 2023 to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After the Central government sent the name of Charaideo Moidam to UNESCO, which was able to make it to the initial list of World Heritage Sites in 2014, the Director General of the Central Department of Archaeology and representatives of UNESCO visited the Charaideo Moidam several times.
The 46th conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is being held in New Delhi from July 21 to July 31. The conference will discuss all the sites whose nominations have been sent for the World Heritage Site.
The Moidam or tomb:
Presence of moidam, the local term of tomb, erected during the rule of various kingdoms, can be seen in different parts of Assam. A large number of the historic moidams are present in Charaideo, which is located in Upper Assam region of the state and the erstwhile capital of Ahom Kingdom. These moidams are the burial grounds of the deceased.
The Tai-Ahom people performed the tradition of burying bodies instead of cremation. In the event of the death of the king, the people of his clan built a moidam at the place of burial. According to their religious belief, the Tai-Ahoms have been treating the Moidams as sacred places.
History of Charaideo Moidam:
The Charaideo Moidam is the largest span of land that has presence of a huge number of moidams which were built during the reign of the Ahom kingdom. As mentioned in history the moidams, Charaideo Moidams are places where members of the royal family were buried.
Ahom king Chaolung Sukaphaa established the capital at Charaideo during his reign. The Ahom king and the royal family's dead bodies were buried or given moidams in Charaideo, historian Dombrudhar Rajkonwar said.
The Moidam area known as the historic Charaideo Moidam Kshetra is the burial grounds of 42 Ahom kings and spans on 578 bighas of land. Apart from this there are various small moidams near Charaideo Moidam which are believed to be of the members of the king's family.
According to historian Dombrudhar Rajkonwar, there was a time when even if someone of the Ahom dynasty died elsewhere, their bodies would be brought to Charaideo and buried here with a moidam being erected thereafter. Till date more than 150 moidams have been recovered in the entire Charaideo district. The archaeology department and historians are still working on the discovery and identification of the moidams, the historian said.
Excavations have been carried out several times to collect more information inside the Charaideo Moidam area. The archaeology department has been able to recover the materials used during the Ahom rule during the excavation. For many years everyone was demanding that this historic Charaideo Moidam area, which bears the signature of the golden history of Ahom rule, be considered as a World Heritage Site.
The Central and state governments have also played a special role in this regard. The people of Charaideo district have also launched various programmes demanding that Charaideo Moidam area should be in Charaideo district that was formed after being carved out of Sivasagar district in 2015.
Read more
Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra Fossil Park to get UNESCO World Heritage Site status
