Five Indian monuments are 'dying'

New Delhi: The World Monument Watch has come out with a list of the 100 most endangered heritage sites in the world which includes five Indian sites.

The Indian sites are Srinagar Heritage Zone (J&K), Leh Old Town (J&K), Amber (Rajasthan), Jantar Mantar (Jaipur, Rajasthan) and Chettinad (Tamil Nadu).

All the Indian sites are threatened by development pressures, environmental changes, demolition, and vandalism.

With their name being included in the WMF list, the five sites may see more efforts to save them as "since the launch of the Watch in 1996, more than 75 per cent of the sites have been saved or are well on their way, thanks to timely intervention."

The Srinagar Heritage Zone (Srinagar, J&K) was founded between the Jhelum River and Dal Lake in the mid-third century BC but its most famous monuments, including the Shalimar and Nishat Gardens, were built after the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Kashmir in the 16th century.

Leh Old Town was the capital of Ladakh and is a rare example of Tibeto-Himalayan urban settlement. The town came into prominence in the 15th. But now just a few urban centers apart from the fortified monasteries survive.

Amber, which is in Rajasthan, was capital of the one of the Rajput clans - the Kachwahas - and saw its best times from the 11th century till the 18th century.

A fortified citadel and the Kachwaha palace are the major tourist attraction but they are now threatened by uncontrolled tourism and developments taking place in the city.

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, was built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1729 and then reconstructed in 1901. However, exposure to elements and vandalism are destroying what was one of the most accurate observatories of the 18th and 19th century.

Sawai Jai Singh II also built four other observatories which are in New Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura, and Varanasi. Maharaja Ram Singh restored the Jaipur Jantar Mantar to its former glory in 1901.

The Chettiars established Chettinad in Chennai and the city has many palaces and temples.

While the Chettiars abandoned the area in the 1940s but the place still attracted lots of tourists. However, many building have been torn down and their artifacts sold off as antique items.