Photo Essay – Celebrating World Heritage Day with 10 Heritage Monuments from India

Today and on the 18th April of every year , ICOMOS i.e. International Council on Monuments and Sites celebrates the “International Day for Monuments and Sites”. The aim of the International Day is to encourage local communities and individuals throughout the world to recognize the importance of cultural heritage in their lives, identities and communities, and to promote awareness of its diversity and vulnerability and the efforts required to protect and conserve it. And I thought what better way to celebrate it on my blog than with a photo essay on 10 of my favorite heritage monuments and sites that I have been lucky enough to visit recently. I am limiting myself to 10, as I can go on and on with these pictures and the post can be never ending.

1. The Mumbai CST Station and the heritage walk on DN Road –

Mumbai CST Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra

2. The Sun Temple, Modhera, Gujarat –

Sun Temple, Modhera, Gujarat

3. Temples of Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Carvings on temples of Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

4. Colonial Houses and Churches of Fort Kochi, Kochi, Kerala –

Santa Cruz Basilica, Fort Kochi, Kochi, Kerala

5. Paintings on the walls  of Bundi Fort, Bundi, Rajasthan –

Paintings of Krishna, on the walls of Bundi Fort, Bundi, Rajasthan

6. Rani ki Vav (Stepwell), Patan, Gujarat –

Rani ki Vav (stepwell), Patan, Gujarat

7. Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk area, New Delhi –

Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

8. Temples of Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu –

Shore Temple, Mabalipuram, Tamil NAdu

9. The Sun Temple of Konark, Orissa –

1 of the 24 wheels of the Sun Temple in Konark, Orissa

10. Buddhist and Jain Temples of Ajanta and Ellora, Aurangabad, Maharashtra –

Buddhist Temple Caves of Ajanta, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

This is not even a fraction of what we Indians have as we have been lucky to have inherited such a rich heritage and cultural lineage. I sincerely hope that we can realize its importance and retain it to pass it on to our future generations.