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| World Heritage Site: Valley of flowers, Uttarakhand |
My resolution: I have visited some of these wonders which have left an insatiable desire to visit all of these Natural and cultural Heritage wonders before I hit the bucket. There is no point in burning my hard earned money for the worldly pleasures abroad. I'm an explorer not a traveler. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough
Natural Heritage Wonders
The properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (approved as per the year)
Kaziranga National Park (1985)
In the heart of Assam, this park is one of the last areas in eastern India undisturbed by a human presence. It is inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, as well as many mammals, including tigers, elephants, panthers and bears, and thousands of birds.
Keoladeo National Park (1985)
Keoladeo National Park, located in the State of Rajasthan, is a bird paradise of green wildlife oasis situated within a populated human-dominated landscape, some 375 bird species and a diverse array of other life forms have been recorded in this mosaic of grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps and wetlands of just 2,873 ha.
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the State of Assam in North-East India. A biodiversity hotspot. Covering an area of 39,100 hectares, it spans the Manas river and is bounded to the north by the forests of Bhutan. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the core zone of the 283,700 hectares Manas Tiger Reserve, and lies alongside the shifting river channels of the Manas River. The site’s scenic beauty includes a range of forested hills, alluvial grasslands and tropical evergreen forests.
Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988)
In the state of Uttarakhand
The Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks are exceptionally beautiful high-altitude West Himalayan landscapes with outstanding biodiversity. One of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the Himalayas, Nanda Devi National Park is dominated by the 7,817 m peak of Nanda Devi, India’s second highest mountain which is approached through the Rishi Ganga gorge, one of the deepest in the world. The Valley of Flowers National Park, with its gentler landscape, breathtaking beautiful meadows of alpine flowers and ease of access, complements the rugged, inaccessible, high mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi
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| Sundarbans National Park |
Sundarbans National Park (1987)
In the state of West Bengal
The Sundarbans contain the world's largest mangrove forests and one of the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems. The park comprises of many islands, support a wealth of animal species, including the single largest population of tiger and a number of other threatened aquatic mammals such as the Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins.
Western Ghats (2012)
Older than the Himalaya, Western Ghats from one of the four watersheds of India, feeding many of the remaining rivers of India. This
mountains ecosystem presents one of the best examples of the monsoon system on the planet.
The awesome Western Ghats (Range of mountains) are internationally recognized as a region of immense global importance for the conservation of biological diversity, besides containing areas of high geological, cultural and aesthetic values. Also known as the Sahyadri Mountains, a mountain range along the western side of India and one of the world’s ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots". A total of thirty nine properties (including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests) was designated as world heritage sites - twenty in the state of Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
Some of these jaw dropping sites on the Western Ghats are: - Agasthyamalai: Kerala
- Periyar Lake: Kerala
- Anaimalai Hills: Tamil Nadu and Kerala
- Nilgiri Hills: which are a range of mountains with at least 24 peaks above 2,000 meters (6,600 ft), in the westernmost part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India
- Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary: Karnataka
- Kuduremukha: is a mountain range and name of a peak located in Chikkamagaluru district, in Karnataka
- Sahyādri: which constitutes a mountain range along the western side of India and is one of the eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India (a long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau)
The properties listed above and below are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (approved as per the year).
Source
The sites mentioned below are not only the pride of India, but The Great Cultural Wonders of The World. These are stunningly beautiful too.
24 Cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Agra Fort (1983), Ajanta Caves (1983), Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989), Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004), Churches and Convents of Goa (1986), Elephanta Caves (1987), Ellora Caves (1983)
Fatehpur Sikri (1986), Great Living Chola Temples (1987), Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)
Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984), Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987), Hill Forts of Rajasthan (2013), Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (1993), Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986), Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002), Mountain Railways of India (1999)
Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993), Red Fort Complex (2007), Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003), Sun Temple, Konârak (1984), Taj Mahal (1983), The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)
Details with pictures to follow in the next post...