IN PICS | Harappan-Era Dholavira Recognized As UNESCO World Heritage Site After 8 Years Of Wait

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A Harappan-era city, Dholavira in Gujarat, has been conferred the tag of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the organisation said on Tuesday.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

"Dholavira: A Harappan City, in India, just inscribed on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List. Congratulations!" UNESCO tweeted.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

Dholavira, a Harappan-era city in Kutch district of Gujarat, was included in the UNESCO's World Heritage list during the ongoing 44th session of its World Heritage Committee.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

The site was on the UNESCO's tentative list since 2014. Dholavira: a Harappan city, is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

Dholavira is an exceptional example of a proto-historic Bronze Age urban settlement pertaining to the Harappan Civilization and bears evidence of a multi-cultural and stratified society during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

It also said that its earliest evidence can be traced back to 3000 BCE during the early Harappan phase of the Harappan Civilization. This city flourished for nearly 1,500 years, representing a long continuous habitation. The excavated remains clearly indicate the origin of the settlement, its growth, zenith and the subsequent decline in the form of continuous changes in the configuration of the city, architectural elements and various other attributes.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "absolutely delighted" by this news, noting that Dholavira was an important urban centre and is one of the most important linkages with our past. "It is a must visit, especially for those interested in history, culture and archaeology," Modi tweeted.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)

Dholavira, located in an island called Khadir in the Great Rann of Kutch, has one of the world's earliest water conservation systems ever excavated, as per the Gujarat Tourism Department. The site was unearthed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1967, but has been systematically excavated only since 1990.(Image Source: Twitter/@MinOfCultureGoI)