Champaner in top heritage site list

The ruins of Champaner at the foot of the Pavagadh hill in the Panchmahals have been included in a list of the 100 most endangered heritage sites in the world by the World Monuments Fund. The Jaisalmer fort in Rajasthan, Metropolitan Building in Calcutta, St Anne Church in Goa and Basgo Gompa in Ladakh are the other Indian monuments included in the list.

The WMF is a New York-based private non-profit organisation founded in 1965 or the conservation of important artistic and architectural treasures all over the world.

This year's list includes nine sites in Africa, 21 in Asia and the Pacific region, eight in the West Asia, 13 in western Europe, 10 in North America and 15 in South Africa and the Caribbean.

Over the last 15 years, a Vadodara-based Heritage Trust has been working to conserve the little-known heritage site of Champaner, about 40 kilometres from here. The site is threatened most by quarrying in its vicinity, Heritage Trust chairman Karan Grover said here on Wednesday.

The trust has tried to attract the attention of the government, Archaelogical Survey of India and the media to Champaner's significance, so that it would result in positive action, he said. Mr Grover also expressed hope that inclusion in the WMF list would lead to some positive developments.

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Compiled from Local news media