Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO reviews conservation works at Ramappa Temple

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO-Paris Vishal V. Sharma visited the Rudreswara (Ramappa) Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Palampet village of Mulugu district on Sunday to review the preservation and conservation efforts undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the State government.

Mr. Sharma, who was in Hyderabad for a programme at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), also toured the district to assess the ongoing conservation work. He was accompanied by ASI officials H.R. Desai, Krishna Chaitanya and Rohini Pandey-Ambedkar, along with INCOIS senior executive Nagoji Rao.

Mr.Sharma earlier served as Chair of UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage Committee during its 46th session, becoming the first Indian to hold the position. He recently chaired the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Red Fort in Delhi, during which ‘Deepavali’ was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It was under his leadership that the Ramappa Temple was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2021, a press release said.