The Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh and Rani-ki-Vav (The Queen's Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat are up for world heritage status next month.
Unesco's World Heritage Committee is meeting in Doha from June 15 to 25 to consider the inscription of 40 sites on Unesco's world heritage list.
Unesco confirmed to TOI that the World Heritage Committee will consider Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) for a world heritage tag for being the most important gene pool of western Himalayan flora and fauna.
The park is home to iconic temples like Kedarnath, has the most important gene pool of western Himalayan flora and fauna and the endangered snow leopard.
GHNP is a major source of water with four major rivulets—Tirthan, Sainj, Jiwa Nal, and Parvati—originating from the glaciers in the Park. These rivulets flow to form the river Beas. A Unesco document has high praise for GHNP's diversity.
It says: "Around 17% of GHNP is under forests. A total of 832 plant species belonging to 427 genera and 128 families of higher plants have been recorded within the Park. The Park falls within one of the globally important Endemic Bird Areas and is home to 183 bird species. Thirty-one mammal species, including the snow leopard, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan brown bear, Grey Goral and Himalayan Musk Deer are found here."
About Rani-ki-Vav, Unesco said, "It is situated about 2km to the northwest of Patan district in Gujarat. It is the most magnificent stepwell in Gujarat built during the 11-12th century. A stepped corridor compartmented at regular intervals with pillared multi-storeyed pavilions is a unique feature. The four pavilions which demarcate the stages along the descent have multiple storeys, two, four, six and seven respectively. Sculptures of deities and other images adorn the walls flanking the staircase.
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