Assam: India’s permanent representative to UNECO visits famed Charaideo Moidams

Charaideo (Assam) [India], March 2 (ANI): Indian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Vishal Sharma, visited the historic site of Charaideo Moidams in Assam on Friday.

The site has being nominated by India for UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

After his visit, Sharma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for promoting Assamese culture.

Charaideo Moidams are one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Assam. The site is a collection of mounds that represent the late mediaeval burial tradition of the Tai Ahom community in Assam.

Often compared with the pyramids of Egypt, the Moidams showcase the brilliant architecture and expertise of the artsmen and masons of Assam from the mediaeval era.

The Indian envoy told reporters that the site has been nominated by India and there is a possibility of it making the prestigious list.

“I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for promoting Assamese culture and world heritage to international countries and places all over the world. The government of India has nominated this site on the world heritage list and I hope it gets inscribed on the list,” the Indian envoy told the reporters on Friday.

“This represents the proud Assamese culture. I congratulate the Assam government, the officers of the Ministry of Culture, the Archaeological Survey of India and the Assam Archaeology Department for preserving and conserving this extremely important site. PM Modi has said ‘Vikash Bhi Virasat Bhi’ which links our past with the future,” Sharma added.

Visited the #Moidams – the mound burial system of the #Ahom dynasty. The town of #Choraideo near Dibrugarh, #Assam is famous for its Moidams. #VisitAssam #VisitIndia. pic.twitter.com/LIbxRPWdAh

— Vishal V. Sharma 🇮🇳 (@VishalVSharma7) March 1, 2024

Last year, Assam CM Sarma wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi that the Assam government had submitted the World Heritage Nomination Dossier of the cultural heritage site of Moidams for onward submission to UNESCO for their evaluation in the current year cycle of 2023.

“Moidams (or Maidams) represent the late medieval (13th-19th century CE) mound-burial tradition of the Tai Ahoms in Assam, which lasted almost 600 years. Out of 386 Moidams explored so far, 90 royal burials at Charaideo are the best preserved, representative, and most complete examples of this tradition,” Sarma said in the letter.

“There is currently no World Heritage Site in the category of cultural heritage in North East India. This important dossier has been prepared in technical collaboration with the ASI. I would like to request that the Government of India supports our efforts and forwards the aforesaid nomination dossier to the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO”, he added.