Move to include Charaideo maidams in the UNESCO list arouses enthusiasm among people

SIVASAGAR, March 6: The people of Sivasagar and Charaideo district have expressed satisfaction over the government of India’s big thrust to the historic Charaideo Maidams, the Pyramids of the East, for the UNESCO Heritage tag, which they feel will put the place firmly in the Global Tourism Map.

The Charaideo Boundary Demarcation Committee, Tai Sahitya Sabha, Ahom Sabha, Media Management and Research Association, Rangpur Prachin Kirty Sinha Sangrakhyan Samity, through a release here today expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minster Dr. Himanta Biswa Sharma for doing the needful expeditiously in clearing the technical requirements. The nomination now awaits evaluation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

The mound burial system of the Ahoms, known as Maidams, in and around Charaideo hills are located in the Sivasagar district geographically but are now recognized as the pride historical resource identified with the new district Charaideo. They enshrine the mortal remains of the members of Ahom Sawargadeos (Kings). Earlier, the kings and queens were buried with their paraphernalia in a specially built dome-shaped mound, the well inside was filled with a special kind of mud- this was observed when years back the tallest among them was excavated by the ASI. Later when the Ahom Swargadeos adopted Hindu culture and were cremated, their bones and ashes were buried in the mounds. The site was first listed in the tentative list of candidates in 2014. The site reportedly has been included in the cultural category, the only site of the category among the list of 32 sites in India. The government of Assam explored 386 of the maidams so far of the kings (Swargadeos), queens, and Ministers of nearly 600-year Ahom rule from 1228 AD to 1826 AD, and 90 of them are best preserved at Charaideo hills.

Dr. Zakirul Alam, a member of the Boundary Demarcation Committee, said that the Minister of Disaster Management Jogen Mahan took the early initiative in the survey of the entire area and preparing the boundary map in 2019 which continued till 2022. The organizers also thanked former CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Jorhat MP Topon Kumar Gogoi, and Dr. Dayananda Borgohain for their sincere assistance to the project.

The map of the proposed Heritage site prepared by the state government, excludes many maidams, Langkuri Doul, Pujhuri etc. The committee urged the Government to include these relics in the project. Jayanta Rajkonwar, president, of Ahom Sabha, urged the government not to grant land patta, to the land grabbers near the historical sites. The organizations urge the government to declare the entire district as an iconic district with over 551 monuments. Jiten Borpatra Gohain, former professor of history, Namrup college, said that only 32 maidams have been included in the dossier prepared by the government and many more maidams should be surveyed and documented. The state government spent Rs 25 crores in upgrading the infrastructure at the Charaideo historic sites, improving the front yard, boundary wall erection around the maidams, and the road leading to the site. The back of the maidams , now occupied by the tea gardens should be cleared for a horticultural park which will be an added attraction and recreation centre for the tourists. The people of the two district urge the government to adopt zero tolerance to the illegal land grabbers near the 551 historical sites.