Three New Indian Sites Added to UNESCO Tentative List

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Key takeaways

Three new Indian locations have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO.
The Karst-mud-volcano Complex of Baratang features active mud volcanoes that erupted again in 2025 after two decades of dormancy.
Barren Island hosts South Asia's only active volcano, which recorded an ash plume rising to 1.2 km in January 2026.
The Sirpur Cultural and Archaeological Landscape in Chhattisgarh preserves monuments dating from the 5th to 12th centuries CE.

The Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO announced the addition of three new sites to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
The newly included locations are the Karst-mud-volcano Complex of Baratang, the Andaman Subduction Volcanoes, and the Sirpur Cultural and Archaeological Landscape.

This list serves as an official inventory of properties that a state party plans to consider for nomination to the World Heritage List in future years.
Inclusion on this tentative list is a compulsory precondition before any cultural, natural, or mixed heritage property can undergo formal evaluation for inscription under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

This natural site sits in the southwestern region of Baratang Island within the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
It features extensive sedimentary limestone karst caves and active mud volcanoes connected to tectonic fault zones.
The rugged 1 sq. km karst terrain formed over millions of years from compacted marine organisms, displaying jagged outcrops, deep caverns, and speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites.
The site exhibits non-magmatic mud volcanism known locally as Jalki, which emits cool slurries of mud, water, methane, and hydrogen sulphide driven by over-pressured shale layers.
Four clusters of vents located in the Reserve Forest near Jarawa Creek erupted again in 2025 after remaining dormant for two decades.
Geological features are governed by tectonic fault zones formed by the subduction of the Indian Plate beneath the Burma microplate.

This natural serial site comprises Narcondam Island and Barren Island, representing the only Quaternary-period subduction volcanoes in the inner volcanic arc chain.
The entire Burma-Andaman-Java subduction complex spans a length of 5,000 km.
Narcondam Island sits closer to transitional crust and features dacite, andesite, and rhyolite rocks, while Barren Island lies above oceanic crust with basalt lavas.
Barren Island hosts South Asia's only active volcano, featuring a 2-km-wide caldera that has recorded major eruptions since 1787 and recent activity in January 2026 with an ash plume rising to 1.2 km.
The site demonstrates primary ecological succession on Barren Island due to recurring eruptions, contrasted with long-term ecological succession over 18,000 to 20,000 years on Narcondam Island.
Narcondam Island is densely forested and harbors endemic species such as the Narcondam hornbill and Narcondam shrew.

This cultural site is located on the eastern banks of the Mahanadi River in the Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh.
It preserves an early medieval riverine urban landscape that served as the ancient capital of Shripur under the Sharabhapuriya and Panduvamshi dynasties.
The area features monumental remains dating from the 5th to 12th centuries CE, integrating Hindu temples like the Laxman Temple and Gandheshwar Temple with Buddhist viharas.
Structures were built using locally quarried stromatolite rocks formed over a billion years by cyanobacteria within the Proterozoic Chhattisgarh Basin.
The site retains large-scale urban and mercantile structures, including the Rajmahal complex and bathing ghats along the river trade corridor.
The surrounding buffer zone hosts indigenous Gond and Baiga communities adjacent to the Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary.