Bhubaneswar @75: Why Its Historical Sites Deserve World Heritage Status

Bhubaneswar has turned 75 years today. A lot of things have changed. There are informal debates going on about the merging of Ekamra Khetra and Shree Khetra. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Odisha made history by conducting a cabinet meeting sitting in Kyoto.

Both the state and the city have come a long way, yet it comes as a surprise that with so many heritage sites in Bhubaneswar, not a single has been accorded the UNESCO World Heritage status forget the World Heritage City status like what was recently awarded to Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

Bhubaneswar abounds in temples, caves and ancient forts that qualify for World Heritage status and it is time that it gets recognised as a Global City and comes in the league of other such world cities with heritage sites.

Kyoto, which the CM recently visited, is the second most popular city for tourists in Japan as it is considered among the first capitals dating back to 794AD and is a hub for Japan’s cultural archives. The city has more than 1600 Buddhist temples and over 400 Shinto shrines. The city hosts 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century. As the centre of Japanese culture for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto illustrates the development of Japanese wooden architecture, particularly religious architecture, and the art of Japanese gardens, which has influenced landscape gardening the world over.

Much on the same lines, Bhubaneswar has a long history dating back to the 261BC rock edict of King Ashoka with a message of peace over a pregnant elephant. There is the Hathigumpha (Elephant Cave), the remains of Sisupalgarh an ancient city with a population between 20,000 to 25,000 believed to have flourished between the 3rd century BC and 4th century AD.  Some historians believe it is larger than Athens which used to have a population of 10,000.

Some say Bhubaneswar once used to be home to over five thousand temples which gave it the title of Temple City. But today, only around seven hundred temples remain out of which only a few are in a good condition. Interestingly, most of the older temples in Bhubaneswar were built between the 8th and 12th centuries, under Shaiva’s influence.

Apart from the historical features, Bhubaneswar owns the distinction of being Independent India’s first planned capital city founded in 1948. The main ingredient of the Bhubaneswar master plan was a neighbourhood-based grid city where everything is planned within walking distance such as medical, schools, parks, gardens, and workspaces and most of its buildings were erected and inspired by temples & caves.

In 2014, Bhubaneswar submitted its dossier to UNESCO the Governing Body which stamps a site as World Heritage status. The dossier, known as Ekamra Kshetra — the Temple City, Bhubaneswar is now live in the tentative lists. The dossier seeks heritage status for the entire old town area under the cultural heritage category.

The dossier compares Ekamra Kshetra with World Heritage sites like Angkor Wat of Cambodia; Hampi and Pattadakal of Karnataka; Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh.

Heritage any way is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations so our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of Chandaka, the caves of Khandagiri & Udayagiri, the ancient fort town of Sisupalgarh, the heights of temples and the hills of Dhauli make up Bhubaneswar’s heritage. What makes the city unique is its secular characteristic of peace acceptance generation after generation.

Hopefully, the delegation that has gone to Kyoto will arrive back in Bhubaneswar, it will be inspired enough to push for a World Heritage status for at least twenty sites that are awaiting such recognition.