More Hoysala monuments in Karnataka are queuing up for world heritage site tag

The Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebeedu and Somanathapura are India’s official nominations for inclusion as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but a few more temples belonging to the same period could join the list in future.

The serial nomination process provides for extension of sites under the same category if the new site meets the UNESCO’s criteria of displaying outstanding universal value besides sharing the same attributes as that of the monuments that were originally included as World Heritage Sites.

Both Belur and Halebeedu have been in the tentative list since 2014. They were nominated as ‘The Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas’ to which the Keshava temple at Somanathapura was included as part of the serial nomination process. The three monuments await the final declaration as a UNESCO site.

If the monuments are approved for inclusion as a World Heritage Site, they will be collectively viewed as a single nomination, with the new ones being an extension of the original property.

UNESCO defines serial nominations as any two or more unconnected sites that may contain a series of cultural or natural properties in different locations, provided they are related because they belong to the same historical and cultural group.

As many as 14 forts in Maharashtra were clubbed for serial nomination as ’Maratha Military Architecture’, and is under UNESCO’s tentative list since one year.

Sources in the State Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage said a provisional list of the temples that have the potential to be included as world heritage sites had been drawn up when the final dossier for the Hoysala monuments was being prepared.

The original list, which was prepared in 2019 had 14 Hoysala monuments from which only the Keshava temple at Somanathapura was included in the final dossier.

The other temples in the list include Panchalingeshwara temple at Govindahall,  Kesava temple at Harnahalli, Lakshminarayana temple at Hosaholalu, Ishvara temple at Arsikere, Bucheshwara temple at Koravangala, Nageshwara and Chennakeshava temple at Mosale, Kalyani at Hulikere, Lakshmidevi temple at Doddagaddavalli, Amriteshwara temple and Viranarayana temple at Amrutpura.

Pankaj Modi, an architect who was among those involved in preparation of the dossier, said they have pruned the list to include only three sites but, going forward, other sites too could be included subject to the sites fulfilling the UNESCO criteria. He is hoping that the Karnataka Government would come forward with a plan for management of these sites.  

The immediate challenge before the authorities is to prepare a master plan for management of Somanathapura; a master plan for both Belur and Halebeedu has already been prepared.

Officials said in case of Somanathapura, the Archaeological Survey of India had issued a notification banning all activities within a radius of 100 metres of the monument. ‘’Only the guidelines have to be prepared. They could be the template for preparation of the master plan as well,” an official said.