India presently has 52 sites on the UNESCO heritage sites tentative list. Recently, two Gujarati sites have recently been added to the list of tentative UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These were Vadnagar and Modhera's Sun Temple. Both sites can be found in northern Gujarat's Mahesana district.
A site that has "outstanding universal value" gets designated as a World Heritage Site. This denotes "cultural and/or natural significance that is so outstanding as to transcend national boundaries and be of common importance for both current and future generations of all humanity."
A tentative list is a list of the properties that each State Party intends to take into consideration for nomination, according to UNESCO. A government must create a nomination document for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to review once UNESCO includes a location on the Tentative List. After that, a representative of UNESCO will evaluate the situation and conduct an inspection.
The state of Gujarat has a rich history. Numerous artefacts from the palaeolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic periods of history have been discovered by humankind. For several hundred years, the Indus Valley Civilization also prevailed in this area. One of the historically significant sites having innate ties to the past is Vadnagar.
A town and municipality in Gujarat's North Gujarat area, Vadnagar is part of the Mehsana district. It is conveniently located close to roadways, 90 kilometres south of Gandhinagar, and 110 kilometres from the Ahmedabad Airport. Historical names for the city included Vridhanagar, Anandapur, Anartapur, and Nagar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2006, a number of archaeological digs got underway, highlighting the area as the Buddhist heartland. Vadnagar is home to various ancient treasures, but it is best known for the 40-foot-tall red and yellow sandstone torans and columns constructed during the Solanki era in the 12th century.
With a 4,500-year history, Vadnagar has continuously housed people for 2,700 years. In the modern century, it has changed from being an agricultural area to a hub for the performing arts.
Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese Buddhist traveller, is reported to have visited Vadnagar in 640 CE and wrote about the area in his travelogue. In 2008¨C2009, when the excavations got underway, a Buddhist monastery's remnants were found.
It indicated that the location was in fact a Buddhist centre, possibly a well-known one.
Living historical towns and villages are a type of constructed heritage that is quickly disappearing. They demonstrate both continuity and adaptability to the changing times without sacrificing the historical or heritage elements.
Vadnagar is one such historic town with continuous settlements for more than 2700 years. With the passage of time, it has changed and assumed a variety of roles, including an early historic walled village, hinterland port, hub for the shell and bead industries, late mediaeval town, religious centre/temple town, important intersection on trade routes, and mercantile town.
The architectural influence of numerous cultural periods is magnificently displayed by components like fortifications, gateways, toranas, temples, wells, kothis, Buddhist monasteries, and votive stupas, among others.
The extensive water management system within and around the town also contributes to the longevity of the community.
The town thus symbolises a historically growing urban environment or location that was vital to Western India's hinterland trade network. Unlike other historical sites, such as Harappa and Kalibangan, which were eventually abandoned, the old town has continued, demonstrating its fortitude and outstanding universal value.