Rambagh Gate, Red Light District in Punjab, Church of the Epiphany in Gurugram win UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards 2023; Checklist

While the Rambagh Gate in Amritsar received the Award of Excellence, the Church of the Epiphany in Gurugram, Haryana earned the Award of Merit.

New Delhi: Three heritage projects from Punjab and Haryana, namely the Rambagh Gate & Ramparts in Amritsar, Pipal Haveli in Gurdaspur and the Church of Epiphany in Gurugram, have secured prestigious spots under the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, announced on Thursday. While the Rambagh Gate in Amritsar received the Award of Excellence, the Church of the Epiphany in Gurugram, Haryana earned the Award of Merit.

“With people, heritage and creativity at its core, the resilient urban revitalization of the Rambagh Gate and Ramparts in Punjab, India, has been awarded the highest honour: ‘Award of Excellence’,” UNESCO Bangkok said in a statement.

In addition, twelve projects from China, India and Nepal were recognized by the prize jury of this year’s UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Three projects: Fanling Golf Course in Hong Kong SAR, China; Dongguan Garden Residences in Yangzhou, China; and Karnikara Mandapam at Kunnamangalam Bhagawati Temple, Kerala, India – each received an ‘Award of Distinction’.

An ‘Award of Merit’ was presented to five projects: Yan Nan Yuan, at Peking University in Beijing, China; Pan Family Residence in Suzhou, China; Church of the Epiphany in Haryana, India; David Sassoon Library and Reading Room in Mumbai, India; and Bikaner House, in New Delhi.

The ‘Award for New Design in Heritage Contexts’ went to Erlitou Site Museum of the Xia capital in Luoyang in China, according to UNESCO Bangkok.

The Karnikara Mandapam at Kunnamangalam Bhagawati Temple, in Kerala, Pipal Haveli, in Punjab, and Sikami Chhen, in Kathmandu, Nepal, were awarded the ‘Special Recognition for Sustainable Development’ for their transformative heritage practices that contribute to broader principles of sustainable development, the statement said.

The jury had been deliberating since November and selected a total of 12 projects based on their understanding of the place, their technical performance and their sustainability and impact, as specified in the award criteria, officials said. This year the jury assessed 48 project submissions. from eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The entries were particularly diverse in scope and typology. The jury noted that all entries together represent significant ongoing progress in the awareness and practice of heritage conservation in the region, they said.

In 2023, the jury consisted of seven international nature conservation experts led by a chairman. The judges’ geographic representation covered the Asia-Pacific region, just as the judges’ expertise – archaeology, intangible cultural heritage, landscape design, museology, built heritage conservation – reflected a wide range of perspectives, the report said.

Every year since 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation program recognizes the efforts of private individuals and organizations in restoring, preserving and transforming structures and buildings of heritage value in the region, the statement said. encourages others to undertake conservation projects within their own communities, either independently or through public-private partnerships, it added.

UNESCO introduced a new category ‘Special Recognition for Sustainable Development’ in 2020, along with an updated set of award criteria to recognize the role and contribution of cultural heritage to sustainable development within the broader framework of the UN 2030 Agenda, the statement said.

“The award-winning projects serve as a testament to how cultural heritage can be successfully preserved and at the same time mobilized to be integrated into various local development strategies.

“The award winners were selected based on their demonstration of success against various conservation criteria, such as their expression of the spirit of the place, their technical achievement, their appropriate use or adaptation, their involvement in the local community and their contribution to improving from nature. sustainability of the environment and beyond,” said UNESCO Bangkok.