Analysis of Taj Mahal: Challenges in World Heritage Site Preservation

This report examines the Taj Mahal as a World Heritage Site, focusing on its historical significance, cultural importance, and the challenges it faces regarding protection and conservation. It details the process of UNESCO designation, the benefits of being a World Heritage Site, and the adverse effects o...Read More

World heritage sites

INTRODUCTION
Heritage sites means the places which posses certain specific characteristics which is established
on the basis of cultural or natural presence. It can be said as a biggest source of travel and
tourism that accumulates large number of tourists in a particular place where these sites are
located. UNESCO list these sites in the category of world heritage sites (Akbar, et.al, 2019). This
report will be on Taj Mahal. It further discuss the issues related to the protection and
conservation of this site. This report also mention the importance of the heritage site and why
they should be preserved. Moreover, it will discuss about the worth these heritage sites holds in
the present modern society. This report also provides some suggestions regarding reducing the
risk towards the heritage sites.
MAIN BODY
The Mughal emperor in India built Taj Mahal in the loving memory of Noor Jahan, wife of the
emperor. It took 23 years to built this palace. It is situated on the banks of Yamuna river in Agra,
Uttar Pradesh. There is the saying that the king has cut the hands of workers who had built the
beautiful palace so that no one could make that again in the world (Suleman and Qayum, 2018).
The thought of creating a concept of world heritage sites was initiated in early 1900s. It is
important to protect these sites from any sort of external or internal harm. UNESCO is said to be
the first organization which derived the idea of conserving these sites in terms of preserving the
beauty and sanctity for coming generations. In order to experience the greatness of the heritage
sites, someone has to think about its conservation. Majority of countries showed their interest in
the convention related to the protection and preservation of the world heritage sites. The
convention was finally established in the year 1972 and got official assent in 1975 where it
became effective. UNESCO has bifurcated the heritage sites on the basis of three categories, that
is cultural, natural and mixed. Cultural sites are those which have got its existence out of some
history, custom, tradition. It includes various historical monuments and buildings. For example-
Ajanta and Elora caves, Agra fort, Archaeological site of Nalanda, etc.
Natural sites are those which is being given by the nature that is already existed and were
maintained by the human beings (Kainthola, Tiwari and Chowdhary, 2021). For example-

Kaziranga natinal park, Keoladeo national park, Sunderban forests, etc. Mixed heritage sites are
those which are a mix of both cultural and natural sites. They provide significance of culture and
heritage along with the inclusion of natural elements. For example- Machu Pichu, Ibiza, Tikal
and many more. Khangchendzonga national park is also a mixed heritage site which is situated in
Sikkim, India. In order to list the specific site among the list of world heritage sites, the
administration of these sites has to follow a process which is quite a prolonged procedure in
terms of including any of the sites in that list. Before following the above mentioned process, the
countries are required to sign the agreement or the convention which constituted by UNESCO.
Then, they can place the proposal by nominating their site for the inclusion in the list of world
heritage sites. First of all, the states require to prepare a list of the sites that are situated in those
countries. For the same purpose, a committee will be made in order to select one site among the
whole list. Then the nomination documents are submitted before the authorities of world heritage
centre. They review the presented documents and provide certain recommendations to the
management of the sites in order to make certain necessary corrections as soon as possible. This
includes alterations or modifications or presenting some other important files which is left out by
the administration at first instance (Kittipongvises, et.al, 2020).
There are different types of advisory bodies that are included in the procedure of
checking and selecting. The condition to be named as the world heritage site is that the site must
fulfil any one of the condition out of the ten conditions which is being stated by the authorities.
At the final stage, the selection committee will give the status of world heritage site to the
monument which is chosen by the members of that department. Taj Mahal is being considered as
one of the most beautiful tourist site in the whole world. It is a symbol of pure love. It brings a
connection between the people and the place where it is situated. Large amount of tourists visits
this place every year. It attracts people because of its uniqueness. Marble stone is used to build
the monument which is white in colour and signifies peace, prosperity and love. There are
minimum 70,000 tourists that visit Taj Mahal on the regular basis (Sharma and Bisht, 2019).
This has impacted the economy in the positive manner and promoted development and growth of
the economy of the country. It comes under seven wonders of the world. It is also associated
with history of India.
It provides information about the ancient culture and abundance of Indian heritage in
terms of values and traditions. In order to preserve the belief of unity in diversity of the ancient

civilization, all the these heritage sites must be preserved. It always encourages value system of
the Indian inheritance which also helps in attaining useful knowledge about the past. The place
which receives status of a world heritage site, enjoys different benefits. First is the popularity, the
site will attract number of tourist because it would become a famous place to visit. People will
going to acknowledge that heritage site. Many financial institutions will provide financial
assistance for its maintenance and proper management. The fund which is received from the
government will be utilized for preserving the area of Taj Mahal. It also receives a benefit of
being protected from any kind of external aggressions or war. The heritage would be able to
approach the resources of global project management which plays a crucial role in the
administration of that particular site(Liu, et.al, 2018). Whenever any site is being declared as a
world heritage site, it automatically falls under Geneva convention. For maintaining the site,
workforce will be required, and this reduce the problem of unemployment because many
individuals are appointed for maintaining the site. Each and every person is responsible to
contribute in the conservation and protection of Taj Mahal.
There are many adverse effects that could be seen in terms of maintaining the monument.
It not only affects the society but it also lays negative impact in the heritage site as well. This
will create a problem for tourism sector of the country. Day by day the number of visitors are
increasing to see the beauty of Taj. Due to this, crime ratio in that particular area has also
increased. There are number of shops that are being built near to the heritage site, it also included
slum areas which is responsible in creating stagnation in growth and development of the area.
With this, pollution level in cities has also increased which is affecting structure of Taj Mahal.
White marble has been used in building Taj Mahal and due to the pollution, it is losing its
beauty. Maintenance of Taj Mahal requires a lot of funds from the authorities every year.
Tourists have been given great access to explore the heritage site. It is necessary to notify the
specific areas in which tourists can enter and explore the historical monument. Taj Mahal is
located on the banks of Yamuna river which is polluted by the locals living in adjoining areas of
heritage site (Parga, González and Enríquez,2020). All sewage waste from households are
being dumped in the river. This needs to be treated. Government must build a proper sewage
treatment plan in order to reduce the effect of water pollution in Yamuna river. Authorities who
are responsible for the maintenance of the monument should fix the number of visitors to see Taj
Mahal in order to prevent over crowding. The above suggestions must be considered by

government and other authorities in terms of eliminating factors that poses risks to the historical
site.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that heritage sites are very essential for the economic
growth of a country. It also promotes tourism sector to a great extent. Taj Mahal is being chosen
for the report. It is important to conserve heritage sites so that the coming generations would
enjoy its beauty and poise. They must be well versed with the historical importance of Taj Mahal
along with its significance. It also provides an experience in order to know about culture and
tradition. The society must take it as a responsibility to preserve world heritage site that is Taj
Mahal by undertaking various efforts such as reducing pollution, following all the necessary
guidelines which are being issued by the government while visiting the site, vacating nearby
areas of Taj Mahal so that it makes a great impression on tourists.
References:
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study of Aksu-Jabagly world heritage site, Kazakhstan. Sustainability, 12(1), p.143.
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demarketing the Taj Mahal. International Journal of Tour Guiding Research, 2(1), p.4.
Kittipongvises, S., et.al , 2020. AHP-GIS analysis for flood hazard assessment of the
communities nearby the world heritage site on Ayutthaya Island, Thailand. International
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Liu, J., et.al , 2018. Analysis and simulation of the spatiotemporal evolution pattern of tourism
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