PHNOM PENH, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The 37th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) on Friday inscribed the Hill Forts of Rajasthan cultural property in India on the World Heritage List.
"On behalf of the 21-member committee, I'd like to congratulate India for the inscription of the cultural property of Hill Forts of Rajasthan on the World Heritage List," Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Chairman of the 37th WHC session, said after the site was listed.
According to the UNESCO's document, the Hill Forts of Rajasthan are serial property formed by seven sites in the northwestern state of Rajasthan in India, each strategically built and located on the oldest mountain range of the Aravallis or the Vindhyan range in the region and, each as a representative of the medieval defense settlements of the Rajput warrior caste.
These seven sites collectively constitute the most authentic, best conserved and most representative sites of Rajput military architecture of Rajasthan region, the document said.
"This set of medieval and post medieval hill forts narrates centuries of political, cultural, social and architectural evolution of the ruling Rajput caste in the history of India," it said.
They stand as testimony to the formation of princely states, development of Rajput ideologies and Rajput architectural style over successive periods, myriad political conflicts, battles and alliances between the ruling Rajput clan vis a vis the Sultanate period rulers and Mughal Emperors of Central India, it said.
The seven hill forts of Rajasthan are selected as authentic examples from varied geographic, physiographic and cultural zones within Rajasthan to represent a complete range of the hill forts of Rajasthan.
Each selected hill fort site is of Outstanding Universal Value with advanced construction techniques exploiting natural terrain and contours for defense, unique social associations with Rajput courtly life, most sophisticated and evolved examples of secular Hindu Rajput architecture, technological adaptations utilizing the wealth of natural resources and located in an extraordinary geographical setting, the document said.
The World Heritage Committee is currently holding its 37th session in Phnom Penh to consider inscribing 30 new properties on the World Heritage List.
Dim Sovannarom, a spokesman for the 37th WHC session, said Friday that about 17 of the 30 candidate sites are likely to be inscribed on the list during the session.
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