Harappan-era city Dholavira gets UNESCO World Heritage Site tag

New Delhi: Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Gujarat, has been conferred the tag of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the organisation said on Tuesday.

This is the second site to be included in the world heritage list this month after the Ramappa Temple at Palampet in Telangana's Warangal.

"Dholavira: A Harappan City, in India, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations!" UNESCO tweeted.

Dholavira and the Ramappa Temple were included in the list during the 44th session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Gujarat now has four world heritage sites — Dholavira, Champaner near Pavagadh, Rani ki Vav in Patan and the historic city of Ahmedabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "absolutely delighted" by this news, noting that Dholavira was an important urban centre and is one of the most important linkages with our past.

"It is a must visit, especially for those interested in history, culture and archaeology," Modi tweeted.

The 44th session of the World Heritage Committee is being chaired from Fuzhou in China and is being held online. It started on July 16 and will end on July 31.

It combines current work and issues left outstanding since last year, when the annual meeting was postponed due to COVID-19.

Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said in a tweet: "It gives immense pride to share with my fellow Indians that #Dholavira is now the 40th treasure in India to be given @UNESCO's World Heritage Inscription. Another feather in India's cap as we now enter the Super-40 club for World Heritage Site inscriptions."

The 40 world heritage properties in India include 32 cultural, seven natural and one mixed property. Apart from India, countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, China and France also have 40 such sites each.