Maharashtra makes UNESCO 'World Heritage Site' bid for Shivaji-era forts and geoglyps

The Maharashtra government has submitted two successful serial nominations – forts associated with legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and geoglyps of Konkan region — for the UNESCO world heritage site tag.

Maharashtra hosts five of the 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that are located in India.

These include Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, both in Aurangabad, Elephanta Caves in Raigad, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, and the Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble in Mumbai.

The Western Ghats, which start at the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra and runs through the States of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, ending at Kanyakumari, also figures in the UNESCO list.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government expects that the United Nations agency will accord the heritage tag to the two unique nominations.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs Amit Deshmukh expressed the government’s commitment to support efforts to get these themes successfully inscribed from UNESCO.

To be specific, the Department of Cultural Affairs submitted the two serial nominations to UNESCO through Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) – namely, ‘Military Architecture of Maharashtra’ with emphasis on hill and sea forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and ‘Geoglyphs of the Konkan (Maharashtra & Goa)’ highlighting need to promote prehistoric art of Maharashtra on a global platform.

This was confirmed by Dr Tejas Garge, Director, Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra.

The proposal on military architecture involves Raigad, Rajgad, Torna, Shivneri, Prtapgad, Simhagad, Lohagad, Panhala/Rangna, Sindhudurg, Vijaydurg, Padmadurg, and Kulaba forts.

The geoglyph sites nominated are Kasheli, Barsu, Rundhetali, Devihasol, Jambharun, Ukshi, and Kudopi in Maharashtra and Fanasimal in Goa.

“Maharashtra presents unique ensemble of world heritage sites - from rock-cut architecture, classic masterpieces of painted art, sculptural monuments like Kailash dating back to 2nd century BC to Victorian Architecture and Art Deco buildings in Mumbai. Further it has potential for more world heritage nominations in the form of Maratha Forts, Lonar Lake, petroglyphs of Konkan, among others,” Dr Garge said.

In fact, Dr Garge has also authored a paper on the petroglyps (geoglyps) of Konkan region. Faunal carvings are mostly seen on every site. Among the fauna depicted there are certain animals and birds which are now extinct. All these sites are situated near water bodies like lakes, small ponds, Arabian Sea.

As far as forts are concerned, Maharashra is very rich – and each of them has history and folklore attached to it.