New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Ashoka pillars of Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh in Bihar are part of a cluster of ancient properties which find a mention on Tentative List of UNESCO for India under the title ‘Serial Nomination for Ashokan Edict Sites along the Mauryan Routes’, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha.
A Tentative List is an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination, according to Paris-based UNESCO.
Shekhawat was asked whether it is a fact that two Ashoka pillars in West Champaran in Bihar have been “included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO”.
“No, Sir. The Ashokan pillars of Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh in West Champaran have not yet been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, these two pillar edicts have been included in the Tentative List of UNESCO under the title ‘Serial Nomination for Ashokan Edict Sites along the Mauryan Routes’,” he said.
These pillars are protected and conserved from time to time, as required, by the Archaeological Survey of India and are in “good state of conservation and preservation”, Shekhawat said.
The serial nomination on India’s tentative list spans states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, and Delhi, according to UNESCO website.
It was submitted by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO in February 2025.
Addition to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre’s tentative list is mandatory if a property is to be nominated for inscription to the World Heritage List in future.
A set of six properties — including some considered serially, such as Ashokan Edict Sites and Chausath Yogini Temples spread across multiple states — have been added to India’s tentative list by the World Heritage Centre, the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO had said in a statement in March.
The Union minster was also asked whether the government proposes to build a museum in the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency to keep these pillars safe at one place.
“At present, there is no proposal to develop a museum at the site,” he added. PTI KND KVK KVK
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