Assam: Charaideo Moidams Slated to Get UNESCO’s Cultural World Heritage Site Tag Today

The announcement will be made at 10 am in New Delhi

Assam is eagerly waiting UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s announcement regarding inclusion of the 700-year old mound burial system of the Ahom dynasty, the Moidams, as a UNESCO World Heritage site in the cultural category.
The announcement will be made at 10 am today in New Delhi.

The Moidams are located in Charaideo in upper Assam.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to X and said that if the Chairadeo moidam gets included in UNESCO’s Cultural World Heritage list it will be a milestone for the people of the state.

Chief Minister Sarma also urged everyone to be united to witness the monumental moment and celebrate the state’s pride and rich legacy.

“The UNESCO recognition of Charaideo Moidam will be a milestone for the people of Assam. We eagerly await the announcement at 10 AM. Let’s unite to witness this monumental moment, celebrating our rich heritage and the pride of Assam together,” CM Sarma posted on X.

https://x.com/himantabiswa/status/1816515577545896205

The 90 pyramid-like shape royal burials at Charaideo was nominated for inclusion in UNESCO’s Cultural World Heritage list during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in New Delhi on Sunday.

If included, it will become the first cultural site on the prestigious list from the northeastern region.

Assam already has two world heritage sites in the natural category – Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park.

Currently, there are 42 World Heritage Sites in India. Out of these, 34 are cultural, 7 are natural, and one, Khangchendzonga National Park, is of mixed type.

What is the Charaideo Moidam?
The Moidam of Choraideo, located at the foothills of the Patkai range, demonstrate the Tai-Ahom culture’s reverence for their kings and their funerary practices. Charaideo is situated 28 km east of Sivasagar.
The first king of the Ahoms Chau-lung Siu-ka-pha was buried at Charaideo after his death observing all the Tai-Ahom religious rites and rituals. Since then, it turned into a norm to bury the Tai-Ahom Kings, Queens and Princes and Princesses at Charaideo. During their six hundred years of rule, this place became a venerated and sacred place.
The exterior of the Maidam is hemispherical in shape and their sizes vary from a modest mound to a hillock of twenty meters or so in height, depending upon the power, status and recourses of the person buried.
A Maidam consist of three major features, a vault of Chamber, a hemispherical earthen mound covering the chamber with a brick structure (Chaw-chali) for annual offering over it and an octagonal boundary wall around the base of the mound having an arched gateway on its west. However, the smaller Maidam did not have all the above features.

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