India adds 6 new sites to UNESCO tentative list: All you need to know about these cultural and natural Gems

India’s cultural and natural heritage gained fresh recognition on March 7, 2025, as UNESCO added six new sites from the country to its tentative World Heritage list. With these additions, India now has 62 properties under consideration and 43 already inscribed—35 cultural, seven natural, and one mixed. The new entries—ranging from megalithic monuments and Gupta-era temples to remote national parks—highlight India’s regional diversity and historical depth. More than a procedural update, their inclusion reflects a growing effort to broaden heritage narratives beyond the well-known. As UNESCO’s General Conference approaches in October 2025, these nominations mark an evolving understanding of India’s legacy—dynamic, layered, and deeply rooted. Here’s a closer look at the six sites now on the world’s watchlist. (Image: Canva)

1. Kanger Valley National Park, Chhattisgarh
Situated within the richly forested expanse of southern Chhattisgarh, Kanger Valley National Park is often overlooked in conventional travel itineraries, despite its outstanding ecological significance. The park shelters an array of endemic flora and fauna, offering a vivid portrait of the Eastern Ghats’ biodiversity. Its limestone caverns—most notably the Kotumsar and Kailash caves—possess an otherworldly stillness, while the Tirathgarh waterfalls provide a striking natural contrast in volume and motion. This park is neither commercial nor crowded. It calls not to the casual tourist, but to the curious visitor prepared to experience a landscape on its own terms. (Image: Wikipedia)

2. Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs, Telangana
In a quiet corner of Telangana lie the Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs—large standing stones that date back to the Iron Age, their original function still open to speculation. Some scholars posit they marked burial grounds; others suggest astronomical significance. Regardless of their precise purpose, these structures possess a solemn clarity that evokes a time before written history, when stone was not merely material but message. Unlike the more frequented archaeological sites of the subcontinent, Mudumal remains relatively unmediated, offering a raw encounter with a prehistoric landscape. (Image: X/@MinOfCultureGoI)

3. Ashokan Edict Sites along the Mauryan Routes (Serial Nomination)
Scattered across the Indian subcontinent, the Ashokan edicts are among the oldest surviving examples of political communication in South Asia. Etched into stone in the 3rd century BCE, these inscriptions document Emperor Ashoka’s policies of moral governance and his advocacy for dharma, compassion, and religious tolerance—principles he promoted following the devastation of the Kalinga War. This serial nomination comprises multiple sites situated along ancient trade and pilgrimage routes. The inscriptions are not merely historic curiosities; they are foundational texts in India’s civilisational memory, offering insight into the ethical architecture of statecraft during the Mauryan era. (Image: X/ @BhaktUnofficial)

4. Chausath Yogini Temples (Serial Nomination)
The Chausath Yogini temples, dispersed across various Indian states, represent a distinct and somewhat esoteric strand of sacred architecture. Dedicated to the worship of 64 Yoginis—female deities associated with tantric practices—these shrines are typically circular in form and often constructed atop hills. Each Yogini is enshrined within her own niche, the ensemble forming a mandala-like configuration intended to invoke cosmic order. These temples occupy an ambiguous space between veneration and power, femininity and force, myth and ritual. For the traveller willing to delve beyond the conventional temple circuit, they offer a narrative both challenging and enriching. (Image: X/ @DrPKashyap & @MPTourism)

5. Gupta Temples of North India (Serial Nomination)
Widely regarded as the "Classical Age" of Indian civilisation, the Gupta period produced an enduring legacy in literature, science, and the arts. The temples from this era, though modest in scale, are striking in proportion and ornamentation. Constructed predominantly from stone, these sanctuaries demonstrate the early evolution of Nagara-style architecture and carry inscriptions that date back to a time when Sanskrit was the lingua franca of knowledge. This nomination includes a group of such temples, each offering a glimpse into an era where structural clarity and devotional purpose existed in seamless accord. (Image: X/ @theupindex)

6. Palace-Fortresses of the Bundelas, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
The Bundela rulers of central India, active from the 16th to 18th centuries, commissioned a number of palace-fortresses that display a regional interpretation of Indo-Islamic architecture. These structures, particularly those in Orchha and Datia, balance aesthetic ambition with military pragmatism. Within their high ramparts lie palatial halls adorned with murals, ceremonial courtyards, and temples that speak to a syncretic cultural identity. Despite their grandeur, these complexes remain less celebrated than those of Rajasthan or the Deccan. Their inclusion in the tentative list may well restore the recognition long overdue to the Bundela legacy. (Image: X/ @ansigoi)