India's seven more properties added to tentative list of Unesco heritage

Seven new properties, including Deccan Traps at Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, and Natural Heritage of Tirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh, have been added to the Tentative List of Unesco's World Heritage for India, according to officials.

The Permanent Delegation of India to Unesco said the addition of these properties highlight India's "commitment to the preservation and conversation of its rich cultural heritage".

In a post on X on September 12, India at Unesco, said, "The Permanent Delegation of India to Unesco is happy to announce that India's 7 properties have been added to the Tentative List of Unesco's World Heritage Convention."  These seven properties under the natural category include Deccan Traps at Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra); Geological Heritage of St Mary's Island Cluster (Udupi, Kamataka); Meghalayan Age Caves (East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya); Naga Hill Ophiolite (Kiphire, Nagaland), the Permanent Delegation of India to Unesco said in a statement.

Other properties are Natural Heritage of Erra Matti Dibbalu (Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh); Natural Heritage of Tirumala Hills (Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh); and Natural heritage of Varkala (Kerala), it said.

With these, the number of Indian properties on the Tentative List are now 69 (49 under Cultural category, three under Mixed category and 17 under Natural category), the statement said.

"Addition to the Tentative List is a mandatory requirement before the inscription of any property on the World Heritage List. We thank the Archaeological Survey of India for its diligent work," it said.