UNESCO Classification World Map Land of temples- Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

1. UNESCO GLOBAL HERITAGE SITE
NAME- Suhelica Roy
ENROLLMENT NUMBER- A91207220005
COURSE- Managing Tourism Resources
COURSE CODE- TTA119

2. WHAT IS UNESCO HERITAGE SITE?
• A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal
protection by an international convention
administered by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural
heritage around the world considered to be of
outstanding value to humanity".
• A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable
accomplishment of humanity and serve as evidence
of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might
be a place of great natural beauty.
• A total of 1,121 World Heritage Sites (869 cultural,
213 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across
167 countries. With 55 selected areas, China and
Italy are the countries with the most sites on the list.

3. CLASSIFICATION OF HERITAGE SITES AND
HOW ARE THEY DONE?
• There are three types of sites: cultural, natural and mixed.
• To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark
which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or
physical significance. Until the end of 2004, World Heritage sites were selected
based on six cultural and four natural criteria. In 2005, this was modified so
that there is only one set of ten criteria exists.
Cultural: i. To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
ii. To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or
within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or
technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.
iii. To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with
ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal.

4. CONTD.….
significance.
iv. To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to
a civilization which is living, or which has disappeared.
v. To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or
technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in
human history.
vi. To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or
sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction
with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact
of irreversible change.
Natural: i. To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional
natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

5. CONTD.….
ii. To be outstanding examples representing major
stages of earth's history, including the record of life,
significant ongoing geological processes in the
development of landforms, or significant geomorphic
or physiographic features.
iii. To be outstanding examples representing significant
ongoing ecological and biological processes in the
evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water,
coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of
plants and animals.
iv. To contain the most important and significant
natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological
diversity, including those containing threatened species
of outstanding universal value from the point of view of
science or conservation.

6. WORLD MAP OF UNESCO HERITAGE SITES

7. ANGKOR
• The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara meaning
“city”.
• Angkor is also known as Yasodharapura which was the capital
city of the Khmer Empire.
• The city houses the magnificent Angkor Wat, one of Cambodia’s
most popular tourist attractions.
• The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland north
of the Great Lake and south of the Kulen Hills near modern-day
Siem Reap city, in Siem Reap Province.
• The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand,
ranging from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through
rice fields to the Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single
religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been
restored, and together, they comprise the most significant site
of Khmer architecture.

8. CONTD…..
• Visitors approach two million annually, and the entire
expanse, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom is
collectively protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The popularity of the site among tourists presents multiple
challenges to the preservation of the ruins.
• In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite
photographs and other modern techniques concluded that
Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world,
with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an
urban sprawl of at least 1,000 sq. km to the well- known
temples at its core.
• Angkor is considered to be a "hydraulic city" because it had
a complicated water management network, which was used
for systematically stabilizing, storing, and dispersing water
throughout the area.

9. CONTD…..
• This network is believed to have been used for irrigation in
order to offset the unpredictable monsoon season and to also
support the increasing population.
• Historical Angkor was more than a site for religious art and
architecture. Aside from a few old bridges, however, all of the
remaining monuments are religious edifices. In Angkorian times,
all non-religious buildings, including the residence of the king
himself, were constructed of perishable materials, such as wood.
• Several religious movements contributed to the historical
development of religion at Angkor:
i. Indigenous religious cults mixed with Shaivism, including those
centered on worship of the ancestors and of the lingam.
ii. A royal cult of personality, identifying the king with the deity,
characteristic not only of Angkor, but of other Hindu
civilizations in southeast Asia, such as Champa and Java.

10. CONTD…..
iii. Hinduism, especially Shaivism focused on the
worship of Shiva and the lingam, but also
Vaishnavism, focused on the worship of Vishnu.
iv. Buddhism, in both its Mahayana and Theravada
varieties.
• The area of Angkor has many significant
archaeological sites, including, Angkor Thom, Ta Som,
Preah Khan, Neak Pean and Terrace of the Leper King.
• Angkor is therefore a major site exemplifying
cultural;, religious and symbolic values, as well as
containing high architectural, archaeological and
artistic significance.
• The Angkor complex encompasses all major
architectural buildings and hydrological engineering
systems from the Khmer period and most of these
“barays” and canals still exist today.

11. CONTD…..
• Previous conservation and restoration works at Angkor
between 1907 and 1992, especially by the Ecole Francaise
d’Extreme-Orient, the Archaeological Survey of India, the
Polish conservation body and the World Monuments Fund
have had no significant impact on the overall authenticity
of the monuments that make up the Angkor complex and
do not obtrude upon the overall impression gained from
individual monuments.
• Angkor is one of the largest archaeological sites in
operation in the world. Tourism represents an enormous
economic potential, but it can also generate irreparable
destructions of the tangible as well as intangible cultural
heritage.
• Many research projects have been undertaken which
results in a better knowledge and understanding of the
history of the site and its inhabitants that constitute a rich
exceptional legacy of the intangible heritage. The purpose
is to associate the “intangible culture” to the
enhancement of the monuments in order to sensitize the
local population to the importance and necessity of its
protection and preservation and assist in the development

12. CONTD…..
of the site as Angkor is a living heritage site.
• Moreover, the Angkor Archaeological Park is very rich in
medicinal plants, used by the local population for treatment
of diseases. The plants are prepared and then brought to
different temple sites for blessing by the gods. The Preah
Khan temple is considered to have been a university of
medicine and the Neak Pean an ancient hospital. These
aspects of intangible heritage are further enriched by the
traditional textile and basket weaving practices and palm
sugar production, which all result in products that are being
sold on local markets and to the tourists thus contributing to
the sustainable development and livelihood of the population
living in and around the World Heritage Site.
• The management of the Angkor Site, which is inhabited also
takes into consideration the population living in the property
by associating then to the tourist economic growth in order to
the strive for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

13. HOW TO REACH ANGKOR WAT?
• There is no Angkor wat airport as the site is itself within the limits of
Siem Reap. One can get to Siem Reap Airport and then make their
way to Angkor Wat. Direct flights to Siem Reap are available only
from Singapore and Bangkok. One can take any flight to Bangkok
from India and from there take the direct flight to Siem Reap.
• From Siem Reap, one can take a minibus tour to Angkor Wat. E-bikes
are also available for hire for tourists. Another option is to hire a tuk-
tuk to get to and around Angkor Wat, and one can find plenty of
drivers waiting. Tuk-tuks are booked for the day, and the drivers will
take you around all the temple entrances and to the Angkor Wat.

14. THANK YOU FOR VISITING ANGKOR!