Heritage tag: Groundwork at Charaideo Maidam started

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State Government has started the groundwork to get Charaideo Maidam declared a Unesco World Heritage Site at any cost.

The Central Government sent the dossier (proposal) for the Unesco World Heritage Site received from Assam to the Unesco headquarters in Paris recently. Both soft and hard copies of the dossier have already reached Unesco.

The State Government started awareness programmes with the help of the local administrations to make the stakeholders aware of the benefits they will get if the Maidam gets Unesco World Heritage Site status.

A source in the State Directorate of Archeology said that Unesco headquarters had already received the soft and hard dossiers of Charaideo Maidam. Representatives of the Government of India handed over the hard copy dossier physically.

Now the Unesco will scrutinize the dossier and its related documents, and either accept or defer it by March this year. If accepted, Unesco will send a team to Charaideo for site verification and compare the ground reality with the dossier, interact with the local stakeholders to know if they want the heritage tag, study the historic aspects of the monument, and go back to take the final decision in Paris.

If Unesco defers the tag, the State Government will have to send a fresh dossier with more justification as to why Unesco should provide a world heritage tag to Charaideo Maidam.

However, the State Government has started the campaign on a positive note to make the local stakeholders aware of what they should do and what they should not do. The government has asked the local people not to erect any structures near the Maidam area haphazardly. They have also made them understand the benefits they will accrue if Unesco provides Chairdeo Maidam with the World Heritage Site tag. The government has been holding meetings with the local populace for the past two days.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Central Government related to Unesco will arrive in the state shortly and visit Charaideo Maidam with State Government officials. He will suggest what more the government needs to do.

Charaideo Maidam, located near Sonari town in the Charaideo district, has an area of 95 hectares. Charaideo was the first permanent capital of the Ahom Kingdom, established by the first Ahom king, Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha, in 1253. Even though the capital moved to other places over the 600 years of Ahom rule, Charaideo remained the symbol of Ahom power. The royal maidams (burial grounds) are found exclusively at Charaideo, whereas other maidams are scattered between Jorhat and Dibrugarh towns.

Also Read:   UNESCO World Heritage Site Status: Charaideo maidams chosen as India's sole nomination

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