Assam’s Moidams To Be Considered For World Heritage List:
The ‘Moidams’ of Ahom dynasty have been proposed for inclusion in the World Heritage Sites list during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee.
- India will host this session for the first time in July 2024 in New Delhi.
- UNESCO’s World Heritage list includes 1,199 properties from 168 countries.
- The Moidams represent the late medieval (13th-19th century CE) mound burial tradition of the Tai Ahom Dynasty of Assam.
- These were primarily constructed using earth, bricks, and stone. The outer structure typically consisted of a mound of earth, often surrounded by a brick or stone wall.
- They are the resting place of royal families in Assam’s Charaideo district.
- It enshrines the mortal remains of the members of the Ahom royalty, who used to be buried with their paraphernalia.
- After the 18th century, the Ahom rulers adopted the Hindu cremation method and began entombing the cremated bones and ashes in a Maidam at Charaideo.
- These burial systems of the Ahom dynasty are comparable to the royal tombs of ancient China and the Pyramids of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
