Bagan, Myanmar. Photo doc. Fathom Away

Bagan of Myanmar is Officially One of the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Zahara Sakinah Abdullah
Social & Life
Travel
Jul 07, 2019
2284
After being nominated for nearly a quarter of a century, the ancient capital of Myanmar, Bagan, has been made as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO this month at a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan. The historical complex of Buddhist temples is finally recognized alongside India’s “Pink City” of Jaipur, the ruins Liangzhu City in China, and the Plain of Jars located in central Laos as the World Heritage Sites.

This heritage is already one of the most popular tourists site in Myanmar. With the complex that includes more than 3,500 stupas, temples, monasteries and other structures that was built between 11th and 13th centuries, this site becomes one of the can’t-be-missed spot for international tourists. Only at one time, the number of tourists, especially from the European countries, have fallen due to the crisis of the northern Rakhine and bad tourism policies. The new title is hoped to revive the tourism industry of Myanmar.

Bagan has gone through numerous issues before it could get its current title as the World Heritage. It was firstly nominated in 1995, but halted caused by the military junta that ruled the country which was accused of ignoring experts’ advice on restoration efforts. The earthquakes also damaged some of the ancient structures, most recently in 2016 where a 6.8 magnitude quake damaged nearly
200 temples.

With the commitment of Myanmar government to remove all hotels from the existing archeological sites to a dedicated hotel zone by 2028, Bagan will remain on the World Heritage List.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/travel/2019/07/07/myanmars-temple-city-bagan-awarded-unesco-world-heritage-status.html

bagan , myanmar , unesco , heritage