Three additions to India's World Heritage sites list now 35 sites.

40th session of World Heritage Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Three additions to India's Heritage list now 35 sites :- 

-Sikkim's national park, home to the world's third highest peak Mount Khangchendzonga.
-Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex (Urban and Architectural Work of Le Corbusier in Chandigarh).
-Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) in Bihar.

Khangchendzonga National Park (previously named Kanchenjunga National Park) also Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

-Located in Sikkim, India.

-The park gets its name from the mountain Kanchenjunga (alternative spelling Khangchendzonga) which is 8,586 metres (28,169 ft) tall, the third-highest peak in the world.

-The total area of this park is 849.5 km2 (328.0 sq mi)

- It is the first 'Mixed Heritage' site of India.

-There are many glaciers in the park including the Zemu glacier.

-Animals like musk deer, snow leopard and Himalayan tahr all make their home in this park.

- Vegetation of the park include temperate broadleaf and mixed forests consisting of oaks, fir, birch, maple, willow etc.

-Nearest city: Gangtok
-Nearest railhead: New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri Junction (221 km (137 mi))
-Nearest highway: NH 31A (Sevok – Gangtok).

Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex.

-Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex was on July 2016 declared by UNESCO as World Heritage at the 40th session of World Heritage Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey.

-UNESCO inscription was under “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier an outstanding contribution to the Modern Movement”.

-The Capitol Complex buildings include the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab and Haryana Secretariat and Punjab and Haryana Assembly along with monuments Open hand, Martyrs Memorial, Geometric Hill and Tower of Shadow.

-The city of Chandigarh was one of the early planned cities in the post-independence India and is known internationally for its architecture and urban design.
- The master plan of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, transformed from earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer.

- Most of the government buildings and housing in the city, however, were designed by the Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry.

-Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh- The region consists of the cities of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, Zirakpur and Kharar.

Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) in Bihar.

Nalanda was an acclaimed Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India.

-Located about 95 kilometres southeast of Patna near the town of Bihar Sharif, and was a centre of learning from the fifth century CE to c. 1200 CE.

-It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
-Nalanda was very likely ransacked and destroyed by an army of the Muslim Mamluk Dynasty under Bakhtiyar Khilji in c. 1200 CE.

-It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal.

-.Nalanda stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent and engaged in the organised transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years.
-The historical development of the site testifies to the development of Buddhism into a religion and the flourishing of monastic and educational traditions.

Chandigarh Capitol Complex
Chandigarh Open hand monument ,Tower of shadow and Martyrs Memorial included in the World Heritage site.