Uttarakhand gov plans to bring 'Kedarnath Dham' in UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Uttarakhand government is gearing up to bring 'Kedarnath Dham' in the list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Heritage site and soon the Dehradun division of Archaeological Survey of India will handover a report on the archeology including the history of the temple to the state government.

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government is gearing up to bring 'Kedarnath Dham' to the list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Heritage sites and soon the Dehradun division of Archaeological Survey of India will hand over a report on the archeology including the history of the temple to the state government.

Later with a detailed report, the proposal will be sent to the central government and UNESCO. If it gets done, then Kedarnath Dham will be the second UNESCO World Heritage Site in the state after Valley of Flowers National Park.

Manoj Kumar Saxena, in charge of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dehradun Division, and senior archaeologist, said attempts are being made by the Uttarakhand government to include the Kedarnath temple in the list of UNESCO World Heritage. For this, the Archaeological Survey of India will soon survey the Kedarnath temple and prepare a report. Along with this, information on the records related to the temple will also be collected from the Rudraprayag district administration.

Manoj Kumar Saxena said that "to be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites, the place should have a history of more than 100 years. Along with this, it should have religious or historical importance including nature and considered to be of outstanding value to humanity."

Kedarnath fulfills all these points, once the surveying of the site is done proposal will be sent to UNESCO, said Saxena further.

Currently, India has 40 World Heritage sites out of which 32 are cultural, 7 natural, and 1 mixed property. The Ajanta Ellora caves were the first site that get registered on the prestigious list.

While the Kedarnath temple is told to be that, the original Pandavas built the temple of Kedarnath and the present temple was established by Adi Shankaracharya, who restored the glory of the shrine in the 8th century A.D. The temple is said to be more than 1,200 years old and one among the 12 jyotirlingas in India.