A day after Gujarat's Rani ki Vav (queen's stepwell) got the UNESCO tag, it was the turn of the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA) in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu, India's richest biodiversity spot in the western Himalayas, to get the coveted status of a World Heritage site.
A senior official from the Union Culture Ministry said that the World Heritage Committee, which met in Doha, Qatar, included GHNPCA in the World Heritage Natural Site list. It was India's lone entry.
The GHNPCA, located in Kullu district and some 250 km from here, is home to several rare and threatened species, including the western tragopan, chir pheasant, snow leopard, Himalayan musk deer, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep and serow.
Some 25 threatened IUCN Red-listed plant species are also recorded in the park. Officials say the GHNP is one of the two national parks in the world that is home to the brilliantly plumaged western tragopan. The Machiara National Park in Pakistan also supports this species.
Spread over an area of 2,850sq km and home to important gene pool of western Himalayan flora and fauna, GHNP is a major source of water with four major rivulets-Tirthan, Sainj, Jiwa Nal, and Parvati-originating from the glaciers in the Park.
In its document, UNESCO has praised GHNP's diversity noting that the Park falls within one of the globally important Endemic Bird Areas and is home to 183 bird species, 31 mammal species, including the snow leopard, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan brown bear, Grey Goral and Himalayan Musk Deer are found here."
On Sunday, the Unesco had added Rani ki Vav in Patan town to the list of World Heritage sites. It marks the zenith in the evolution of stepwells in India in the country and is particularly large and complex example of a stepwell with seven storey of ornamented panels of sculptures representing Maru-Gurjara architecture.
It has been recognised as an exceptional example of utilising ground water resources in a single component and water management system as it illustrates the exceptional capacity to break large built spaces into smaller volumes following ideal aesthetic proportions.
The World Heritage tag means the two sites will have access to global fund and assistance besides leading to a rise in tourism and increased revenues for the country.