List of UNESCO Heritage Sites in India

UNESCO considers some places important in history and mark them as heritage sites. India has her share of heritage sites that we have compiled into the list below with their region and a short description.

Sr. No.	Name	Region	Period	Description
1	Ajanta Caves	Maharashtra	2nd century BC to the 6th century	The Ajanta Caves are Buddhists caves built in two phases. The first was from the reign of Emperor Ashoka. The second, further additions were made during the 5th and 6th centuries AD of the Gupta period.
2	Ellora Caves	Maharashtra	600 to 1000 AD	The Ellora Caves, also known as the Ellora Complex, are a cultural mix of religious arts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.
3	Agra Fort	Uttar Pradesh, India	16th century	The Agra Fort, also known as the Red Fort of Agra, represents Mughal opulence and power as the centrepiece of their empire. The fortress is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River, built-in red sandstone, covering a length of 2.5 kilometres.
4	Taj Mahal	Uttar Pradesh	17th century	The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is a mausoleum — a funerary mosque. It was built by Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his third wife Begum Mumtaz Mahal who had died in 1631. It is a large edifice made in white marble in typical Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Islamic, and Indian architectural styles.
5	Sun Temple, Konarak	Puri District, Odisha	13th-century	The Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha. Located on the east coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Mahanadi Delta, it is built in the form of the chariot of Surya (Arka), the sun god with 24 wheels, and is heavily decorated with symbolic stone carvings and led by a team of six horses.
6	Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram	Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu	7th and 8th centuries	The Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, in Tamil Nadu, about 58 km from Chennai, were built by the Pallava kings in the 7th and 8th centuries.
7	Kaziranga National Park	Assam	20th century	Kaziranga, located in the Northeastern state of Assam in the flood plains of the Brahmaputra River‘s south bank, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 for its unique natural environment.
8	Manas Wildlife Sanctuary	Assam	20th century	The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the northeastern state of Assam in the plains of the Manas River in the foothills of the Himalayas, on the border with Bhutan. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 for its unique natural environment.
9	Keoladeo National Park	Rajasthan	1981	The Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur is located within the Indus–Ganges Monsoon Forest Biogeographical Province. It was declared a national park in 1982. In 1900 it was a duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas of Bharatpur, then became a bird sanctuary in 1956, with the Maharajas exercising shooting rights until 1972.
10	Churches and Convents of Goa	Velha Goa (Old Goa), Goa	16th and 18th centuries	The Churches and Convents of Goa are monuments inscribed by UNESCO under the World Heritage List in 1986 which were built by the Portuguese colonial rulers of Goa between the 16th and 18th centuries. These monuments are mainly in the former capital of Velha Goa.
11	Khajuraho Group of Monuments	Madhya Pradesh	950 AD to 1050 AD	The Khajuraho Group of Monuments attributed to the Chandela dynasty which, under the sovereignty of Gurjar Pratihars reached its glory.
12	Group of Monuments at Hampi	Bellari district, Karnataka, India	14th and 16th centuries	The Group of Monuments at Hampi comprise a sombre but ostentatious Hampi town, on the banks of the river Tungabhadra in Karnataka. Hampi subsumes the ruins of Vijayanagara, which was the former capital of the powerful Vijayanagara Empire.
13	Fatehpur Sikri	Uttar Pradesh	16th century	Fatehpur Sikri, “the City of Victory,” was built during the second half of the 16th century by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It was the capital of the Empire and seat of the grand Mughal court but only for 14 years.
14	Group of Monuments at Pattadakal	Bagalkot District, Karnataka, India	8th century	The Group of monuments in Pattadakal designated under UNESCO World Heritage List, in 1987, cover a remarkable series of nine Hindu temples, as well as a Jain sanctuary in northern Karnataka.
15	Elephanta Caves	Maharashtra	5th to 8th centuries	The Elephanta Caves are a network of sculpted caves located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally “the city of caves”) in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres to the east of the city of Mumbai.
16	Great Living Chola Temples	Brihadeeswarar Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Tamil Nadu, India	11th and 12th century	The Great Living Chola Temples, built by kings of the Chola Empire stretched over all of Tamil Nadu. This cultural heritage site includes three great temples of the 11th and 12th centuries namely, the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.
		Airavateshwarar Temple, Darasuram, Tamil Nadu, India
		Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
17	Sundarbans National Park	West Bengal	1939 and 1982	The Sundarbans National Park, the largest estuarine mangrove forest in the world is a national park, tiger reserve, World Heritage Site and a biosphere reserve located in the Sundarbans Ganges river delta bordering the Bay of Bengal, in West Bengal. It is also on the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
18	Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks	Uttarakhand	1939 and 1982	The Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks are nestled high in West Himalaya. Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. It is located in the Garhwal Himalaya of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand.
19	Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi	Madhya Pradesh, India	2nd and 1st centuries BC to the 12th century AD	The Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, located 45 kilometres from Bhopal in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are a group of Buddhist monuments dated between 200 BC and 100 BC. The site, however, has been conjectured to have been developed in the 3rd century BC, when Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire ruled.
20	Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi	Delhi	1572	Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi, the first tomb built with several innovations, set at the centre of luxurious gardens with water channels, was the precursor monument to the Taj Mahal (built a century later). It was built in 1570 and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Monument in 1993 for its cultural importance.
21	Qutub Minar and its Monuments, Delhi	Delhi	Late 12th century	The Qutub Minar and its Monuments, Delhi, located to the south of Delhi, is a complex with the Qutub Minar as the centrepiece. Built in the beginning of the 13th century, the complex of structures comprises itineraries, the Alai Darwaza Gate, the Alai Minar, the Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque (the earliest existing mosque in India), the tomb of Iltutmish, and an Iron Pillar.
22	Mountain Railways of India	Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (1999), Darjeeling, West Bengal, India	19th and early 20th centuries	The Mountain Railways of India represent a collective listing of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway under the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
		Nilgiri Mountain Railway (2005) Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India
		Kalka-Shimla Railway, Himachal Pradesh (2008) India
23	Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya	Bihar	3rd century BC, 5th and 6th century AD and 19th century	The Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique property of cultural and archaeological importance. The first temple was built by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC (260 BC) around the Bodhi Tree Ficus religiosa (to the west of the temple).
24	Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka	Madhya Pradesh, India	30,000 years	The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka described in the UNESCO Inscription as “the site complex … a magnificent repository of rock paintings within natural rock shelters” is located in the foothills of the Vindhya range of hills in the Central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
25	Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)	Maharashtra	1887–1888	The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a historic railway station in Mumbai, which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India and serves Central Railway trains terminating in Mumbai as well as the Mumbai Suburban Railway.
26	Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park	Gujarat, India	Prehistoric and 8th to 14th centuries	Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park is situated in the Panchmahal district in Gujarat, India. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 as a cultural site.
27	Red Fort Complex	Delhi	1648	The Red Fort Complex, also known as Lal Qila is a palace fort built in the 17th century by Shahjahan (1628–58), the fifth Mughal emperor as part of his new capital city of Shahjahanabad. Located to the north of Delhi, it represents the glory of the Mughal rule and is considered the Highpoint of Mughal architectural, artistic aesthetic creativity.
28	The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur	Jaipur, Rajasthan, India	1727 and 1734	The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja (King) Jai Singh II at his then-new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1734. It is modelled after the one that he had built at the Mughal capital of Delhi.
29	Western Ghats	Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster		The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri Mountains, a mountain range along the western side of India and one of the world’s ten “Hottest biodiversity hotspots” (sub-cluster nomination) A total of thirty-nine properties (including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests) were designated as World Heritage Sites – twenty in the state of Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
		Periyar Sub-Cluster
		Anamalai Sub-Cluster
		Nilgiri Sub-Cluster
		Talakaveri Sub-Cluster (five properties)
		Kudremukh Sub-Cluster (five properties)
		Sahyadri Sub-Cluster
30	Hill Forts of Rajasthan	Chittorgarh	7th to 16th centuries	The Hill Forts of Rajasthan, are a series of sites located on rocky outcrops of the Aravallis mountain range in Rajasthan. They represent a typo of Rajput military hill architecture, a style characterized by its mountain peak settings, utilizing the defensive properties of the terrain.
		Kumbhalgarh
		Ranthambhore
		Amber Sub-Cluster
		Jaisalmer
		Gagron
31	Rani ki vav (The Queen’s Stepwell)	Patan, Gujarat, India	11th century AD	Rani ki vav (The Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat, is a famous stepwell It is famous for its size and sculpture. The length of Rani ki Vav is more than 64 m long, 20 m wide and 27 m deep and there are more than 500 sculptures of god.
32	Great Himalayan National Park	Himachal Pradesh, India		The Great Himalayan National Park at Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, is characterized by high alpine peaks, alpine meadows and riverine forests.
33	Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar	Bihar	5th to 12th centuries	The Nalanda Mahavihara site is in the State of Bihar, in north-eastern India. It comprises the archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE.
34	Khangchendzonga National Park	Sikkim		Located at the heart of the Himalayan range in northern India (State of Sikkim), the Khangchendzonga National Park includes a unique diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and spectacular, snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests, including the world’s third-highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga.
35	The Architectural Work Of Le Corbusier	Chandigarh, India	20th century	Chosen from the work of Le Corbusier, the 17 sites comprising this transnational serial property are spread over seven countries.
36	Historic City of Ahmedabad	Ahmedabad, Gujarat	15th century	The walled city of Ahmedabad, founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah I in the 15th century, on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati River, presents a rich architectural heritage from the sultanate period, notably the Bhadra citadel, the walls and gates of the Fort city and numerous mosques and tombs as well as important Hindu and Jain temples of later periods.
37	The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai	Maharashtra	1862	This is a collection of the Victorian Gothic buildings and Art Deco buildings. They are the Bombay High Court, Rajabai Clock Tower, Eros Cinema and the University of Mumbai.
38	Jaipur	Jaipur, Rajasthan	18 November 1727	The fortified city of Jaipur, in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, was founded in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh II. Unlike other cities in the region located in hilly terrain, Jaipur was established on the plain and built according to a grid plan interpreted in the light of Vedic architecture.

That is a long list. India has 38 heritage sites and 43 more pending heritage sites that are still undergoing evaluation and acceptance. Keep learning and Have a nice day!