Assam hopeful of UNESCO Heritage status for Charaideo Maidam

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam is hopeful of Charaideo Maidam getting UNESCO’s world heritage site after the inspection of the Maidam by the UNESCO International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). It is because the Ahom era Maidam is unique and deserving of the coveted status, and the dossier sent to UNESCO is quite in sync with the ground reality.

UNESCO expert Lim Chen Sian, hailing from Singapore, wound up his seven-day visit to New Delhi and Assam after the evaluation of the Maidam. He left Guwahati for Singapore last evening.

The top officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the top officials of the Archaeology Department of Assam assisted Lim Chen Sian during the field visit to Charaideo Maidam.

According to sources in the State Archaeology Department, Lim Chen Sian spent five days of his seven-day visit to Assam and spent three days exclusively on the field visit to Charaideo Maidam—both the core zone and the buffer zone. He tallied all those mentioned in the dossier with the ground one by one during the field visit, besides taking a detailed briefing on the Maidam, including its history, culture, and whatnot. He also inspected the human bones, skulls, etc. found during the excavation at the Maidam.

One of the important aspects of the field verification of Lim Chen Sian was his interaction with the local populace, who are essential stakeholders of the Maidam. A crucial criterion is that even if a government wants UNESCO World Heritage Status for a site, the opinion of the local stakeholders bears much significance. At the three-hour-long interaction with the local populace at the Maidam on October 9, Lim Chen Sian himself asked the stakeholders a lot of questions to assess their opinion. It is a good sign that the stakeholders were unanimous in their willingness to grant UNESCO World Heritage Status to Charaideo Maidam.

When asked about the next step, sources in the State Archaeology Department said that Lim Chen Sian would now submit his report of the evaluation to UNESCO headquarters in Paris. “Till February or the first part of March next year, UNESCO will send us some queries regarding the Maidam or the dossier. Such queries are part of the procedure to which we need to respond. UNESCO will hold its next conference in June or July next year, when the final decision is likely. In some cases, the decisions defer. However, the State Government is hopeful that the Maidam will get UNESCO World Heritage Status in the first attempt,” a source in the department said.

Charaideo Maidam is the lone nomination from India for a UNESCO World Heritage Site this year. The State Government did form an expert team to prepare the dossier. The committee comprises cultural expert Dr. K. C. Nauriyal, Director of Archaeology Dr. Deepirekha Kouli, Deputy Director of Archaeology Dr. Nabajit Deori, Technical Officer Dr. Chabina Hassan, State Archaeological Engineer Ajit kr. Bora, Exploration Officer Simran Sambhi, and Sr. Conservation Officer Kangkonjyoti Saikia.

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