Assam’s Charaideo moidams to be included in UNESCO’s cultural World Heritage list, CM Sarma praises PM Modi

Assam already have two world heritage sites in the natural category - Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister for getting the 700-year-old mound-burial system of the Ahom dynasty in Charaideo, the Moidams from Assam nominated for inclusion in UNESCO’s Cultural World Heritage list.

The 90 pyramid-like shape royal burials at Charaideo was nominated for inclusion in UNESCO’s Cultural World Heritage list during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in New Delhi on Sunday.

The event is being held at Bharat Mandapam and will conclude on 31 July.

Chief Minister Sarma said, ” The good news is expected on July 26, when the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee will announce the newest additions to its list of World Heritage Sites.”

If nominated, it will become the first cultural site on the prestigious list from the northeastern region.

Chief Minister Sarma said that he had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year to recommend Charaideo to be included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list and now it is almost certain that the Moidam’s will be included in the list.

Assam already have two world heritage sites in the natural category – Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park.

What is the Charaideo Maidam?
The Maidam of Choraideo, located at the foothills of the Patkai range, demonstrate the Tai-Ahom culture’s reverence for their kings and their funerary practices. Charaideo is situated 28 km east of Sivasagar.

The first king of the Ahoms Chau-lung Siu-ka-pha was buried at Charaideo after his death observing all the Tai-Ahom religious rites and rituals. Since then, it turned into a norm to bury the Tai-Ahom Kings, Queens and Princes and Princesses at Charaideo. During their six hundred years of rule, this place became a venerated and sacred place.

The exterior of the Maidam is hemispherical in shape and their sizes vary from a modest mound to a hillock of twenty meters or so in height, depending upon the power, status and recourses of the person buried.

A Maidam consist of three major features, a vault of Chamber, a hemispherical earthen mound covering the chamber with a brick structure (Chaw-chali) for annual offering over it and an octagonal boundary wall around the base of the mound having an arched gateway on its west. However, the smaller Maidam did not have all the above features.

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