Sarnath recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site: Full list of India's sites, criteria for inclusion

Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh has become a UNESCO World Heritage site, as announced by the UN grouping in Busan, South Korea, as part of the the 48^th Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Busan, South Korea on July 25, 2026. 

India’s Ministry of Culture, in a press release, said that “this global accolade celebrates India’s enduring cultural legacy, showcasing its diverse traditions of architectural brilliance, regional identity, and historical continuity” and highlighted the importance of the Buddhist site.

India’s other UNESCO world heritage sites

The country now has 45 World Heritage Sites according to the UNESCO website. The last addition or ‘inscription’ was in 2024, with the Maratha Military Landscapes located Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Here’s the full list:

UNESCO World Heritage List: Criteria for inclusion

To be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, a property must demonstrate ‘outstanding universal value’ and meet at least one of these ten criterias:

1. Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius

2. Exhibit an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning, or landscape design.

3. Bear a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or a civilization that is living or has disappeared

4. Be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble, or landscape that illustrates a significant stage (or stages) in human history.

5. Be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment (especially when vulnerable under irreversible change).

6. Be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, ideas, beliefs, or artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.

7. Contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

8. Be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth’s history, including the record of life, ongoing geological processes in landform development, or significant geomorphic/physiographic features.

9. Be outstanding examples representing ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.

10. Contain the most significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of Outstanding Universal Value.