Date:30/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/30/stories/2007113053790500.htm

New Delhi

Red Fort receives world heritage certificate

Staff Reporter

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

RECOGNITION: UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura in front of Dewan-e-Khas in the Red Fort complex in Delhi on Thursday after a plaque inscribing its World Heritage Site status was installed there.

NEW DELHI: Following acceptance of the nomination of Delhi’s historic Red Fort complex for inscription on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee in June, the complex was officially conferred a certificate by UNESCO at a ceremony here on Thursday.

The ceremony was attended by UNSECO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura who unveiled the plaque inscribing the monument on the coveted list and presented the certificate to Union Culture Secretary Abhijit Sengupta.

The official announcement by the World Heritage Committee in July has taken Delhi’s tally of World Heritage Monuments to three. The other two monuments on the list are Qutub Minar and Humayun’s tomb.

The Red Fort was first referred for inscription on the World Heritage List in 1992, but the plan was deferred due to multi-administrative control. The nomination was re-submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India to UNESCO in 2006.

Though the inclusion of the Red Fort in the World Heritage List would not mean any additional international legal protection formally, it would mean according recognition to Delhi on the global heritage map and a potential boost to Delhi’s tourism, say ASIofficials. Popularly known as Lal Quila, the Red Fort was constructed between A.D. 1639 and 1648 by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan and was part of Shahjahanabad.