BHUBANESWAR: The chances of Bhubaneswar’s Ekamra Kshetra getting the coveted UNESCO World Heritage tag are increasingly becoming uncertain.
Although it has been in the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site (WHS) for the last one decade, human interference as well as encroachment of the site, that houses a large number of ancient monuments at one place, has only increased over the years.
After the state government nominated it, Ekamra Kshetra was included in the tentative list for WHS in April 2014. As per norms, the government is required to subsequently submit a comprehensive dossier on the site to UNESCO for further examination by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). However, that hasn’t been done so far.
Archaeologists said while there has been a delay on the part of the government, the site has lost its cultural homogeneity in this period. Though Ekamra Kshetra continues to enjoy an outstanding universal value for its religious, architectural and archaeological wealth, it loses out on two most important elements mandated by UNESCO - ownership of the ancient property and its buffer zone.
According to official reports, a total of 199 historic structures are present in Ekamra Kshetra of which 22 are centrally (ASI) protected and 11 are protected by the state archaeology. “UNESCO’s guidelines mandate the presence of a buffer zone around a site or a monument that is nominated for WHS.
And there should be ownership of this buffer zone. However, in the case of Ekamra Kshetra, there is multiple ownership of the monuments. Some are managed by ASI and state archaeology, others are being looked after by individuals and many have no ownership at all,” said an archaeologist, requesting anonymity.
Ekamra Kshetra is the second cultural/archaeological site that has been nominated for the WHS after Sun temple at Konark which, on the contrary, has a buffer zone and its ownership lies with the ASI.
Sources said with chances of Ekamra Kshetra getting the WHS status becoming remote, the UNESCO officials have asked archaeologists from Odisha to suggest new monuments/sites in the state for the coveted tag at the recently-concluded 46th session of the World Heritage Committee at New Delhi.