Walled City of Jaipur proposed for UNESCO World Heritage status

The ‘Walled City’ of Jaipur in Rajasthan is the next proposed site for UNESCO World Heritage recognition, Union Minister for Culture Mahesh Sharma informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

As per UNESCO’s Operation Guidelines 2017, only one site can be nominated each year.

“The recognition of World Heritage is a matter of great pride. It impacts the local economy by giving a boost to domestic and international tourism leading to increased employment generation, creation of world class infrastructure and augmentation of sale of local handicrafts, handlooms and heritage memorabilia. Besides, it adds to the prestige of the country as well as the prescribed site,” Sharma said. There are 37 World Heritage sites in the country at present. Located in the eastern Rajasthan, the city of Jaipur is well known for its 18th century town planning and Rajput Mughal architectural icons including architectural landmarks such as the City Palace, Hawa Mahal and the World Heritage Site of Jantar Mantar along with its diverse and thriving historic bazzars.

Confined in a 2 sq km area within a well-defined city wall and 9 city gates, it boasts of magnificent architecture and is the one of the most renowned historic planned city of India from the 18th century. Though enclosed by city walls and protected by a range of forts on surrounding hills, the city of Jaipur was conceived not just as the military retreat of feudal warlords but as a commercial city, a business centre of thriving enterprise, UNESCO has said in its ‘tentative lists’ category.