3 Indian sites given UNESCO World Heritage site

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 17 July 2016 listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier’s works among its World Heritage Sites.

The listed works include Chandigarh’s Complexe du Capitole, Khangchendzonga National Park and Mount Khangchendzonga.
It is the first time that any country got three sites inscribed in the Word Heritage List at a single session of the committee meeting.
Three Indian sites listed in the World Heritage Sites are:
•    Complexe du Capitole, Chandigarh
•    The site comprises three buildings, i.e., Legislative Assembly, Secretariat and High Court.
•    Following the independence of India, the divided Punjab required a new capital as Lahore was now in Pakistan. Therefore, Le Corbusier was commissioned by first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru to build a new city of Chandigarh as the capital of Punjab.
•    The brief for the design was a city unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation's faith in the future.
•    Later, Corbusier and his team constructed large assembly and high court building, and also the major buildings in the city.
•    At present, many of the buildings are considered modernist masterpieces.
•    Khangchendzonga National Park and Mount Khangchendzonga:
•    The park is located at the heart of the Himalayan range in Sikkim.
•    It includes a unique diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests, including the world’s third highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga.
•    It is the first 'Mixed Heritage' site of India.
•    Besides these, Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites (Antigua and Barbuda) and Pampulha Modern Ensemble (Brazil) were also included in the list.