UNESCO team concludes visit to Hoysala temples in Karnataka for World Heritage Site tag evaluation

The team visited Belur, Halebeedu, Somanathapura in connection with a request by the Karnataka Government to declare the Hoysala temples as World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO team, including an expert from International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), visited the 13 th century Keshava temple at Somanathapura in Mysuru district on September 16 before concluding its tour of Hoysala monuments in Karnataka.

The visit is a precursor to the ICOMOS expert, Tiang Kian Boon, submitting his report to UNESCO, which will decide whether the monuments could be accorded the World Heritage Site tag, possibly some time in 2023.

The Chennakeshava temple at Belur, Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebeedu and Keshava temple at Somanathapura are India’s nominations for the World Heritage Site tag. Of these, the temples at Belur and Halebeedu have been in UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014.

At Somanathapura, Tiang Kian Boon had specific queries regarding the architecture of the temple and the sculptures. He was apprised of its salient features by a team of officials comprising Jahnwij Sharma, Additional Director General (Conservation and Scientific Preservation), Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

A team from INTACH-Bengaluru, which prepared the dossier for submission to UNESCO, including Pankaj Modi, architect, Meera Iyer, convenor of INTACH-Bengaluru, and Aravind Chandramohan, co-convenor, briefed Tiang Kian Boon in the presence of Mysuru district Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham and A. Devaraju, Commissioner, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage.

Tiang Kian Boon also met local stakeholders, including representatives from Somanathapura village, who were asked to spell out their concerns, if any.

Bagadi Gautham translated the views of the local community for the benefit of the ICOMOS expert. The local community was positive in their views on the evaluation by UNESCO and expressed optimism that development of tourism would benefit villages in the vicinity.