Saturday, 23 July 2016

Kanchenjunga National Park Gets UNESCO’s Mixed Heritage Site Tag, First of Its Kind in India

The Kanchenjunga National Park at west Sikkim in India is declared as a World Heritage Site in the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The session was held in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month.


Along with Kanchenjunga National Park, India got two more sites recognized by UNESCO as cultural sites- the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh designed by architect Le Corbusier and the ancient Buddhist ruins of the Nalanda University in Bihar. With this, India became a country with 35 UNESCO certified sites, which includes 27 cultural and 7 natural sites.
The only mixed site in this list is Kanchenjunga National Park- fulfilling the criteria for both natural and cultural heritage.


The Kanchenjunga National Park, also Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve is a National Park and a Biosphere reserve is located at the Himalayan mountain range, covering about 1784 sq km. The park, ornamented with mountain Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, is full with ‘exquisite flora and fauna apart from the unique cultural features of the sacred landscape,’ as depicted by the UNESCO.
Kanchenjunga National Park is also home to several endangered species like snow leopard, musk deer, blood pheasant, Tibetan sheep and many others. The high-altitude lakes, springs and glaciers in this park are an addition to its glory.  
There are few trekking routes in this national park, all starting from Yuksom. One can reach to Kanchenjunga National Park by trekking.




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