Kancheepuram eyes world heritage status
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The newly floated Kanchi Forum for Historical Awareness has pitched in for world heritage status to the ancient silk town, which is seeped in history and accounts for good number of ancient temples.
Kancheepuram is mentioned in the ancient scriptures as one of the seven holy cities of India.
“Kancheepuram has a continuous history of over 2,000 years.
Sangam period Tamil kingdoms, Pallavas, Cholas, Pandiyas, Cheras, Hoysalas, Sultans, Nawabs, Vijayanagar Empire and many dynasties ruled this town.
The evolution of Dravidian temple architecture during various stages can be witnessed here. Kancheepuram, which has all the merits, should be included in the Unesco world heritage city list,” says V. Panneerselvam, coordinator, Kanchi Forum for Historical Awareness.
Amazed by its structural beauty poet Bharavi described this historical town as “Nagareshu Kanchi (city of cities).
Famous traveller Yuan Tsang came to Kancheepuram and gave many valuable historical details about it in his travel account.
The town has 108 Saivite shrines, 18 Vaishnavite temples and it has a distinct classification of Shiva Kanchi (Saivism) and Vishnu Kanchi (Vaishnavism), Jina Kanchi (Jainism) and Buddha Kanchi (Buddhism), he said.
Kancheepuram silk is unique and world famous. “We have decided to form a broader forum rallying residents.
All forms of awareness campaign including heritage walks, workshops, lectures and competitions will be used to inculcate historical sense among the people,” he said.
As a concrete step, the forum is engaged in attempts to inspire people to lobby for including the town in the world heritage city list.
The forum comprises senior citizens, academicians, local political representatives, businessmen and students, as members.
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