Delhi out of UNESCO tag race in 2015; eyes on Nalanda in 2016

The city of Delhi being pulled out of the race for the UNESCO Heritage List was one of the biggest dampeners in the field of art and culture in 2015, while the ruins of ancient Nalanda University vying for the coveted tag this year will bring some cheer to heritage lovers looking forward to a hopeful 2016.
The Centre earlier last year had decided to "pull out" the nomination of Delhi as the World Heritage City, saying the prestigious tag, if granted, will put "lot of restrictions" on carrying out infrastructure works in the national capital.
The two areas listed in the dossier sent to UNESCO were -- Shahjahanabad in old Delhi which has Mughal-era heritage and Lutyens' Bungalow Zone (LBZ) in New Delhi, part of the new imperial capital designed by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker after the 1911 Delhi Durbar.

A team from INTACH's city chapter had prepared the "voluminous" nomination dossier sent by the Centre in January 2014. The Union Ministry of Culture had sent the initial nomination to the UNESCO in 2012.
A team from the world body had visited the city in October to examine the heritage sites mentioned in the dossier.
The decision to pull out Delhi barely a few months before its fate was to be decided at the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, had left heritage experts and lovers disheartened.

But with the ancient ruins of Nalanda in Bihar up for consideration of the tag this year, the news has brought some cheers post-Delhi gloom.

Nalanda is the 2015 entry from the country for the UNESCO World Heritage City tag in the cultural heritage segment in pursuance of which the Ministry of Culture through the Archaeological Survey of India had sent an over 200-page-long nomination dossier on January 23 last year.
The university's construction began in 6th century AD and it flourished under the Gupta Empire. Its end came in 12th century when it was ransacked, looted and burnt in 1193 AD by the invading Turk Army led by its commander Bakhtiar Khilji.
Bihar currently has over 70 ASI-protected heritage
monuments and sites under the Patna Circle, and only one UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya in Gaya district. The Nalanda ruins, which fall under this Circle, is spread over 23 hectares.

Delhi, on the other hand has three World Heritage Sites -- Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb.
2015 offered another reason to cheer for history and heritage lovers, thanks to some of the ambitious projects taken up by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), a non- profit organistaion, which works for revitalisation of cultural heritage around the world.
The AKTC is building the country's first sunken museum at the Humayun's Tomb on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) with a funding of Rs 49 crore from the Ministry of Tourism, and for the project began on April 7 last year.

Inspired by the baolis (underground wells) of northern India, and set to be completed by 2017, it will showcase the heritage of the Nizamuddin Area over the last seven centuries.
Prince Karim Aga Khan, while laying the foundation stone of the museum, said, "As I have said during the opening of the restored tomb one-and-a-half years ago, we are working in a magnificent partnership, and it holds true for this museum project as well... And, valuable conservation lessons learnt here will make this site a model for other monuments around the world."
The iconic museum will be located at the entrance zone of the World Heritage Complex and would serve as a bridge between the three sites of Nizamuddin, Sunder Nursery and the 16th century tomb.

On April 18, the World Heritage Day, the city received a gift as Mughal-era Batashewala garden tomb complex was thrown open to public after painstaking restoration that lasted over a period of four years.
Neighbouring the Humayun's Tomb, the 11-acre complex had suffered decades of neglect and inappropriate development.
Headquartered in New Delhi, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), expanded its footprint in Bihar, by opening its Bhagalpur Chapter in the state, its 188th chapter, on December 19.
Besides the ASI, INTACH works on protection, conservation and promotion of tangible and intangible heritage, through its chapters spread across the country in various cities.

The opening of the new chapter in Bihar's 'Silk City' has generated good response, and the INTACH Bihar Chapter seeks to use the platform to boost its efforts to document and preserve old buildings and landmarks in the historic city this year onwards.