Ailing Ellora Caves Are Among Ameliorable World Heritage Centre Sites

Summary: Ailing Ellora Caves arise from activities and ambience that ironically answer to Archaeological Survey of India and World Heritage Centre recommendations.

view of Ellora Caves, with soaring bird; Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Sep. 1, 2012, 11:13:29: Shreyank Gupta ($hrink), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Ailing Ellora Caves, World Heritage Centre site in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, simultaneously are affected adversely by areas not adequately altered against extreme events and areas altered aggressively against invertebrate pests.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) brings Ajanta and Ellora Caves together as one World Heritage Centre (WHC) site since Dec. 9, 1983. The 60-mile (96.56-kilometer) commute between the 1,300 to 2,300-year-old Ajanta Caves and the 800 to 1,600-year-old Ellora Caves never caused concern for the WHC nominating committee. The ailing Ellora Caves display architectural and artistically painted and sculpted developments, that divulge Buddhist, Hindu and Jainist devotions, from the fifth through the thirteenth centuries.

The WHC division on the UNESCO website elaborates three criteria, from a 10-criteria list, that the ailing Ellora Caves epitomizes as an outstanding universal value site.

The description section of the Ellora Caves entry on the WHC list furnishes criterion (i) to fix the 100-plus-cavern site as "masterpiece of human creative genius."

Criterion (iii) gauges Ellora Caves' "unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared." Criterion (iv) heralds them as "outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history." The ailing Ellora Caves integrate two more criteria than the minimum one that impels World Heritage List inclusion and perhaps invite criteria (ii), (v) and (vi).

Twenty-first-century activities and ambience jeopardize Ellora Caves as "important interchange of human values" that join "developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design."

The "outstanding example of a traditional human settlement" kindles "human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change."

Ailing Ellora Caves "directly or tangibly" links with "events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance." Criteria (vii) and (viii) mention exceptionally, naturally aesthetic, beautiful "superlative natural phenomena or areas" and "outstanding examples" of developing "landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features." Criterion (ix), perhaps irrelevant with (vii) and (viii), numbers ongoing, "outstanding examples" that note developing, evolving coastal, freshwater, marine, terrestrial animal and plant communities and ecosystems.

Criterion (x) observes "important and significant natural habitats" with biologically diverse, "threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation."

The ailing Ellora Caves prompted persistent visits and writings that prevented the 1,100-year-long oblivion of the ailing Ajanta Caves from the eighth through the nineteenth centuries.

Perhaps 1,600 years of memoirs and reports qualify ailing Ellora Caves for all World Heritage Centre criteria, even as just three queue up anti-deterioration, on-site mitigation. Periodic Reporting in 2003 and State of Conservation Reports in 1997, 2001 and 2002 record bats, fungi, humidity, insects, roots, theft and vandalism ravaging Ellora Caves. The former shows, perhaps beyond suggested 40-visitor maximums, 516,606; 526,503; 575,045; 10,697; 442,329; 10,460; 246,714; and 4,079 visitors in 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2002-2002 and January-October 2002.

Anti-erosion, anti-landslide, anti-pest, anti-storm, anti-vegetation activities ironically threaten already ailing Ellora Caves, World Heritage Centre site perhaps tended more sustainably by replicated caves and restricted access.

Ailing Ellora Caves require protections against such threats as erosion, humidity, landslides, pests, storms, theft and vandalism: gushing waterfall at Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Sep. 5, 2009, 14:53:32: Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay (sankarshan), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

view of Ellora Caves, with soaring bird; Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Sep. 1, 2012, 11:13:29: Shreyank Gupta ($hrink), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/shreyankg/7924320516/

Ailing Ellora Caves require protections against such threats as erosion, humidity, landslides, pests, storms, theft and vandalism: gushing waterfall at Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; Saturday, Sep. 5, 2009, 14:53:32: Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay (sankarshan), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/runa-sankarshan/3927469965/

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