Context: The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has begun the groundwork to pitch Mysuru as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Both Jaipur and Ahmedabad have been certified as world heritage sites
• Mysuru has a history of art, culture, and architecture that have evolved over the last few centuries.
• It shares lot of similarities with Jaipur, which was recognised for its history of city planning and construction.
• The same is true of Mysuru which took the lead in establishing an urban planning body in the City Improvement Trust Board in 1904.
• Mysuru satisfies the UNESCO criteria that a city or a region should be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
• “It is not the wealth of built structures of different styles alone but traditions and practices of which Dasara is just one example

Amalgam of styles

• Mysuru has an amalgam of different architectural styles as evident in the presence of nearly 250 buildings that have been identified as heritage structures and many of them have been converted to public offices.
• Heritage site tag will help to conserve heritage buildings which are on the verge of being dismantled and demolished by realtors.
• Structures apart, the city continues to be synonymous with culture and traditions and this is also one of the criteria prescribed for recognition as a world heritage centre.
• The city and the region has an unbroken history of encouraging art and culture since historical times and these traditions including folk arts continue to be a part of the live heritage of the people of the region.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/intach-begins-groundwork-eyeing-unesco-world-heritage-tag-for-mysuru/article32849349.ece

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