wfn.org | Bahai News: Baha'i shrines chosen as UN World Heritage sites

["Brad Pokorny" <bradpokorny@comcast.net>]

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Baha'i shrines chosen as UN World Heritage sites

>Baha'i World News Service

>8 July 2008

For more information, contact Bani Dugal (mobile in Quebec) +914-329-3020 or
Al Lincoln (mobile in Quebec) +418-473-3548 or email: news@bahai.org

For photos and other information: http://news.bahai.org

Baha'i shrines chosen as UN World Heritage sites

QUEBEC CITY, Canada, 8 July 2008 (BWNS) - A United Nations committee meeting
here has determined that two Baha'i shrines in Israel possess "outstanding
universal value" and should be considered as part of the cultural heritage
of humanity.

The decision today by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee means that the two
most sacred sites for Baha'is  - the resting places of the founders of their
religion - join a list of internationally recognized sites like the Great
Wall of China, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, and Stonehenge.

The World Heritage List also includes places of global religious
significance like the Vatican, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the remains of
the recently destroyed Bamiyan Buddhist statues in Afghanistan.

The Baha'i shrines are the first sites connected with a religious tradition
born in modern times to be added to the list, which is maintained by UNESCO,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The two shrines, one near the recognized heritage site of Old Acre on
Israel's northern coast and the other on Mount Carmel in Haifa, are the
resting places of Baha'u'llah and the Bab, the founders of the Baha'i Faith.

Baha'is believe that both Baha'u'llah and the Bab were messengers of God;
their resting places are sites of pilgrimage for a religious community of
some five million believers. The shrine of Baha'u'llah is the focal point of
prayer for Baha'is all over the world, giving it an importance comparable to
the Western Wall in Jerusalem for Jews and the Kaaba in Mecca for Muslims. 

Born in Iran, Baha'u'llah was banished to Acre in what was then the Ottoman
Empire, where he died in 1892. The Bab was executed in Iran in 1850, and
His remains were later moved to Haifa for burial.

The two shrines are noteworthy for the formal gardens that surround them,
blending design elements from many cultures. In addition to Baha'i pilgrims,
they attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists every year.

"We welcome the UNESCO recognition, which highlights the importance of the
holy places of a religion that in 150 years has gone from a small group
found only in the Middle East to a worldwide community with followers in
virtually every country," said Albert Lincoln, secretary-general of the
Baha'i International Community.

"The Baha'i community is particularly grateful to the government of Israel
for putting forward this nomination," he said.

The World Heritage List was established by UNESCO in 1972 to identify,
protect, and preserve places of "cultural and natural heritage of
outstanding universal value." So far, 184 nations have signed the World
Heritage Convention, which defines the general standards of selection for
the list, and more than 850 sites have been recognized, including natural
areas, such as East Africa's Serengeti and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The World Heritage Committee is composed of 21 states that are signatories
of the World Heritage Convention. It meets annually in the home country of
its chairperson. This year's chair is Dr. Christina Cameron of Canada, and
the gathering in Quebec, which is itself a world heritage site, corresponds
with that city's 400th anniversary celebrations.

>For a collection of photographs, see:

http://news.bahai.org/story/world-heritage/photographs.html

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