Dholavira World Heritage Site
Source : PIB
Indian Heritage and culture

What is discussed under Dholavira World Heritage Site ?

1. About the site

Why in News ?

India’s nomination of Dholavira the Harappan City in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

Recently Rudreswara Temple (also known as the Ramappa Temple) at Palampet, Mulugu district, Telangana State becoming the 39th World Heritage Centre in India.

Key Facts

• India submitted the nomination dossier for Dholavira : A Harappan City to the World Heritage Centre in January, 2020.
• The site was on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014.
• India has 40 world heritage properties overall, which includes 32 cultural, 7 natural and one mixed property.
• About the site
  • Dholavira is a Harappan city.
  • It is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE.
  • Dholavira witnesses the entire trajectory of the rise and fall of this early civilization.
  • Also demonstrates its multifaceted achievements in terms of urban planning, construction techniques, water management, social governance and development, art, manufacturing, trading, and belief system.
  • With extremely rich artefacts the well preserved urban settlement of Dholavira depicts a vivid picture of a regional centre with its distinct characteristics that also contributes significantly to the existing knowledge of Harappan Civilization as a whole.
  • Property comprises two parts
    • A walled city :  The walled city consists of a fortified Castle with attached fortified Bailey and Ceremonial Ground, and a fortified Middle Town and a Lower Town. 
    • A cemetery to the west of the city.
    • A series of reservoirs are found to the east and south of the Citadel.
    • The great majority of the burials in the Cemetery are memorial in nature.
  • Dholavira is an exceptional example of a proto-historic Bronze Age urban settlement pertaining to the Harappan Civilization (early, mature and late Harappan phases) and bears evidence of a multi-cultural and stratified society during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.
  • Water management plan
    • The expansive water management system designed to store every drop of water available shows the ingenuity of the people to survive against the rapid geo-climatic transformations.
    • Water diverted from seasonal streams, scanty precipitation and available ground was sourced, stored, in large stone-cut reservoirs which are extant along the eastern and southern fortification.
    • To further access water, few rock-cut wells, which date as one of the oldest examples, are evident in different parts of the city, the most impressive one being located in the citadel.
    • Such elaborate water conservation methods of Dholavira is unique and measures as one of the most efficient systems of the ancient world.

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