Moidams of Assam wait for UNESCO World Heritage recognition
Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the historic Moidams of Assam are set to gain more recognition and will get more traction following their nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Moidams, built by the Ahom kings in eastern Assam, are waiting for the final recognition from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mound-burial sites are expected to get the good news at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee to be held in New Delhi from July 21-31.
Janhwij Sharma of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) confirmed that the Moidams have the necessary criteria for a UNESCO heritage tag. Once accepted, it would be the first cultural property from northeast India to get this recognition. Used by the Tai-Ahom dynasty, the Moidams have characteristics similar to the pyramid-like structures in Egypt.
The royal Moidams are found exclusively at Charaideo and other structures are seen between Jorhat and Dibrugarh localities.
Burial is the predominant funeral rite of the Tai people, to which the Ahom people originally belonged. This is opposed to the Hindu system of cremation. After the Ahom kings adopted Hinduism, they chose to bury the ashes after cremation.
