Source: www.wmf.org
INDIA, October 24, 2009: The World Monuments Foundation (WMF) is the leading private organization dedicated to saving the worlds most treasured places. Since 1965–in more than 90 countries–WMF experts have been racing against time, applying proven techniques to preserve important architectural and cultural heritage sites around the globe.
The 2010 watch list for India has five monuments is listed below.
[HPI note: No listed building was built by, or is significant to, the Hindu religion. Of the five, one is Christian, two are Bhuddist and one is Muslim.]
PHAJODING – In 1224 Phajo Drugom Zhigpo established a center for meditation perched on a mountain side in Bhutan. Consisting of 10 temples and a series of meditation houses, Phajoding has since been the regional center for a spiritual tradition that seeks the divine through solitary meditation.
DECHEN NAMGYAL GONPA – Dating to the 17th century, Dechen Namgyal, in Nyoma, India, was an early monastery or gonpa of the Dregpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism along the ancient trade route of Ladakh. Perched 14,000 feet above sea level on the Western Tibet Plateau, Dechen Namgyal is still used today as a place of worship for 10 monks.
AGHJOST MONASTERY – The 13th century Aghjost Monastery complex rests serenely on a slope of a gorge near Garni Village in Armenia. Only a few walls and thick blocks of stone remain of a vestibule and churches for St. Peter and St. Paul. A peculiar stylistic element that is commonly found in Gothic and Romanesque churches in Europe, but rarely found in Armenia, is two full-length 14th century reliefs of apostles Peter and Paul.
OLD MOSQUE OF SHALI FORTRESS – The Old Mosque Of Shali Fortress, completed in 1203, is perched peacefully atop a small hill in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. The Old Mosque survives today as the oldest monument in Shali as well as the oldest mosque in the world constructed using Karshif, a unique earthen material produced naturally through the calcification of earth mixed with salt from the soil.