India is home to thirty-two World Heritage Sites, twenty-five cultural sites and seven natural sites. A World Heritage Site is a place recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance. To be considered a World Heritage Site, a place must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of ten criteria.
Below are details about some of India’s World Heritage Sites. You can click on the name of each site for more details.
India’s twenty-five cultural World Heritage Sites are:
- Agra Fort
- Ajanta Caves
- The Ajanta Caves in the Aurangabad district of the state of Maharashtra about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by theArchaeological Survey of India as “the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting”, which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries A.D.), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group. The paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, have had a considerable artistic influence.
- The Ajanta Caves in the Aurangabad district of the state of Maharashtra about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by theArchaeological Survey of India as “the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting”, which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries A.D.), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group. The paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, have had a considerable artistic influence.