Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks
Nestled high in West Himalaya, India’s Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. The gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya, praised by mountaineers and botanists for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites India
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are important places of cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. There are 37 World Heritage Sites located in India. These include 29 cultural sites, seven natural sites and one mixed site. India has the sixth largest number of sites in the world. Recently, Orchha is enlisted in the tentative list of UNESCO. The Seventh Wonder of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Taj Mahal is not merely a site that brings us to the pages of history; it is an epitome of true love, brilliant architecture and artistic precision. The white-marble mausoleum was commissioned by Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumta Mahal, way back in 1632. And to complete the masterpiece it took about 22 years and as much as 20,000 artisans.