18th April is celebrated as World Heritage Day. Officially celebrated as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, the main aim of celebrating this day is to encourage people around the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage, global communities and identities, and the diverse nature of sites. Each year the ICOMOS - the International Council on Monuments and Sites sets a specific theme to highlight and create awareness for. The theme for the year 2025 was ‘Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage’. This theme focused on the protection of cultural heritage against natural disasters and armed conflicts.
When we travel, we come in close contact with the architecture of various places. What is architecture if not the proof of memories and events of the past. So does that mean that we have been time travelling all these years without really being aware of it? Well, that’s just a thought, nevertheless a rather interesting one. Monuments and historical sites offer us a chance to be acquainted with ancient, foreign and at times our own cultures too. They hold a lot of value and significance as record keepers of history. But time sometimes is not kind to all. Armed conflicts, natural disasters, socio-political conflicts often lead to the damage, in part or totality of these precious cultural milestones. Whether we belong to the country where such a misfortune takes place or not, it deeply impacts the entire global community. For this world is inhabited not by individual nations, but a collective human society. A society where one nation is home to its guests from around the world just as much as it is to its own citizens.
As travellers with an informed conscience about our responsibilities as global citizens, we must strive to make each other understand the need for preserving cultures, communities and their identities. Travelling plays a vital role in raising awareness about global fraternity, knowledge and respecting known and unknown cultures and people from all walks of life. This World Heritage Day, let’s make a pledge to be mindful and respectful towards our collective worlds and strive to uphold the values of kindness in our hearts. It is essential that we pick up the mantle of tolerance and exploration at once in today’s trying times where oppressive regimes are trying to subdue the sense of love and peace prevalent among the human race around the world. How do we do that? Travel around, see the world and learn the very fact that our hearts beat as one, even though the bodies may be far apart.
