Priyaranjan Mohapatra Profile

Hello all passionate travelers & seekers !

As a kid, I wanted to know the world. Geography and history being my favorite subjects. My 1st trips were with my parents. They took us out to northernmost and southern most regions of India. Then on, the travels never stopped for me.

Later years, when I became "UNESCO WHS aware", I realized I'm way behind :) These days, I'm an avid WHS follower; take effort to get educated on them, visit, and post the journey, relish the experiences. To me, at least, it made sense to organize my trips around such sites.

I like going places, see the mix of - old edifices, Forts, Temples, Monasteries, Medinas, Monuments, Ruins, Gardens, objects of unspeakable beauty crafted by nature and anomalies of same, Mountains, Fjords, Volcanoes, Geysers, Glaciers, deserts, Karst, dramatic landscapes, unbelievable structures that encapsulate contemporary human ingenuity & determination, soaking in Cultures, unique animals & bird species, and meeting new minds! … towards personal enrichment.  often during travels, I find oases of serenity which makes me pause & introspect ! 

Heritage Sites (WHS & TWHS) provide a draft to start on new geography and make you travel off the beaten path. Since I'm focusing on quantity, seems stressful at times ; but in process I do get glimpses of human evolution around globe -- maybe the 12,000 year old Thamudic petroglyphs in Wadi-Rum desert, or the exquisite craftmanship of medieval times in Hampi or Konark, or maybe the spectacular urban creation on top of a 8000 ft. mountain in middle of tropical forest, without aid of modern building techniques -  Machu Pichhu!

I noticed many impressive sites not listed by UNESCO , yet some sites of lesser value been inscribed :( .   Wish UNESCO did a better and balanced job. 

Of late (ever since reaching a humble count of  ~175) I collect differently....adding touristy to-dos, local cultural and culinary  immersions, add a hike for that ground feel. Wish I had longer vacation days;)

There are times I feel like I've lived a 100 lives, walked on distant worlds and hope some day to see the end of time !!

“Adventure should be part of everyone’s life. It is the whole difference between being fully alive and just existing.” – Holly Morris

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place… but nothing ever grows there.” – Anonymous

“If we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our life!” – Lemony Snicket

See you on a detour ;)

India/USA Last Update 30.12.24 178 WHS Visited 1 Reviews 179 WHS Rated 50 TWHS Visited

Visited Sites Priyaranjan Mohapatra

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Legend

  • ●● Cultural
  • ●● Natural
  • ●● Mixed

Recent Reviews Priyaranjan Mohapatra

Ekamra Kshetra (T)

Priyaranjan Mohapatra India/USA - 25-Jan-22

This wonderful temple city complex. esp. after the recent cleanup by the provincial Government of Odisha ; unfolds in an array of majestic structures that one can go back 1200 years to visualize how life was back then ! 

Very Ornate group of temples, ponds , cultural stages, etc

Its an inexcusable miss either by UNESCO to not have it listed , or  a case not well presented by the government to the World body! 

It's older (800 AD)  than the nearby Shri Jagannath temple in Puri, (about 1000 AD) which itself older than UNESCO listed Konark Sun temple (1200 AD).

Read On

Profile Data

Name
Priyaranjan Mohapatra
Country
India/USA
Ranking
381
Most Impressive
All WHS are unique in their way... The grandeur of Angkor is sublime
Proposal
1. Ekamra Khsetra, India (is TWHS, but should be WHS) 2. Torres Del Paine Natl Park, Chile (is TWHS, but should be WHS) 3. Atacama Desert , Chile (is TWHS, but should be WHS) 4. Postojna Cave Park, Slovenia (for WHS)

Recently Visited WHS

Update 30.12.24
  • Dholavira: A Harappan City
  • Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas
  • Ahmadabad
  • Rani-ki-Vav

    • 3 Countries Complete

    Bahrain . Holy See . Uganda .

    Rating Stats
    Acropolis 5
    Agrigento 5
    Amphitheater of El Jem 5
    Ancient Kyoto 5
    Ancient Nara 5
    Angkor 5
    Anuradhapura 5
    Avignon 5
    Ayutthaya 5
    Borobudur 5
    Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 5
    Carthage 5
    Cesky Krumlov 5
    Chichen-Itza 5
    Cuzco 5
    Delos 5
    Dougga/Thugga 5
    Elephanta Caves 5
    Florence 5
    Great Wall 5
    Hill Forts of Rajasthan 5
    Iguacu 5
    Iguazu National Park 5
    Imperial Palace 5
    Jaipur City, Rajasthan 5
    Kathmandu Valley 5
    Kaziranga National Park 5
    Lima 5
    Los Glaciares 5
    Machu Picchu 5
    Mountain Railways of India 5
    Olympia 5
    Oporto 5
    Paris, Banks of the Seine 5
    Petra 5
    Polonnaruva 5
    Prague 5
    Québec 5
    Rome 5
    Rwenzori Mountains 5
    Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas 5
    Serengeti 5
    Serra de Tramuntana 5
    Sintra 5
    Stone Town of Zanzibar 5
    Sun Temple, Konarak 5
    Taj Mahal 5
    Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 5
    Urnes Stave Church 5
    Uxmal 5
    Villa Adriana (Tivoli) 5
    West Norwegian Fjords 5
    Cartagena 4.5
    Hampi 4.5
    Kilimanjaro National Park 4.5
    Ngorongoro 4.5
    Poverty Point 4.5
    Rila Monastery 4.5
    Agra Fort 4
    Alto Douro 4
    Amsterdam Canal Ring 4
    Arab-Norman Palermo 4
    Archaeological Site of Delphi 4
    Belem 4
    Birka and Hovgarden 4
    Bryggen 4
    Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 4
    Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik 4
    Central Highlands 4
    Champagne 4
    Changdeokgung Palace Complex 4
    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 4
    Coffee Cultural Landscape 4
    Costiera Amalfitana 4
    Dilmun Burial Mounds 4
    Dinosaur Provincial Park 4
    Drottningholm 4
    Dubrovnik 4
    Fatehpur Sikri 4
    Fujisan 4
    Grand Canyon 4
    Grand Place, Brussels 4
    Great Himalayan National Park 4
    Great Smoky Mountains 4
    Imperial Tombs 4
    Kandy 4
    Koh Ker 4
    Kotor 4
    La Fortaleza and San Juan 4
    Laponian Area 4
    Mafra 4
    Monastery of Alcobaça 4
    Monastery of Batalha 4
    Naples 4
    Nice 4
    Old Town of Galle 4
    Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles 4
    Palau de la Musica Catalana & Hospital de Sant Pau 4
    Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) 4
    Pompei 4
    Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands 4
    Prambanan 4
    Preah Vihear Temple 4
    Qal'at al-Bahrain 4
    Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple 4
    Rio de Janeiro 4
    Sigiriya 4
    Split 4
    Trogir 4
    University of Coimbra 4
    Val di Noto 4
    Vatican City 4
    Venice and its Lagoon 4
    Versailles 4
    Villa Romana del Casale 4
    Villa d'Este 4
    Wadi Rum 4
    Waterton Glacier International Peace Park 4
    Western Ghats 4
    Westminster 4
    Works of Antoni Gaudí 4
    Yogyakarta 4
    Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 3.5
    Dholavira: A Harappan City 3.5
    Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 3.5
    Independence Hall 3.5
    Jantar Mantar 3.5
    Mammoth Cave 3.5
    Monticello 3.5
    Panamá 3.5
    Portobelo-San Lorenzo 3.5
    Rani-ki-Vav 3.5
    Reims 3.5
    Santiniketan 3.5
    The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier 3.5
    Vicenza and the Palladian Villas 3.5
    Bordeaux 3
    Botanical Garden, Padua 3
    Boyana Church 3
    Canal du Midi 3
    Churches and Convents of Goa 3
    Corfu 3
    Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland 3
    Dutch Water Defence Lines 3
    Epidaurus 3
    Evora 3
    Grand Canal 3
    Great Spa Towns of Europe 3
    Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump 3
    Heritage of Mercury 3
    Humayun's Tomb 3
    Ichkeul National Park 3
    Kairouan 3
    Kerkuane 3
    Maritime Greenwich 3
    Medina of Sousse 3
    Medina of Tunis 3
    Mount Etna 3
    Mycenae and Tiryns 3
    Pearling 3
    Pirin National Park 3
    Quseir Amra 3
    Qutb Minar 3
    Red Fort 3
    Skocjan Caves 3
    Statue of Liberty 3
    Syracuse 3
    Tombs of Buganda Kings 3
    Tower of London 3
    Valparaiso 3
    Venetian Works of Defence 3
    Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai 3
    Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi 3
    Yosemite National Park 3
    Ahmadabad 2.5
    Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin 2
    Plečnik's Ljubljana 2
    Skogskyrkogarden 2
    1. Aguas Livres Aqueduct (T)
    2. Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (T)
    3. Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)
    4. Archaeological Site and Historic Centre of Panamá City (T)
    5. Bahá'í House of Worship at New Delhi (T)
    6. Brooklyn Bridge (T)
    7. Capital Fortifications of Hanyang : Hangyangdoseong Capital City Wall, Bukhansanseong Mountain Fortress and Tangchundaeseong Defense Wall (T)
    8. Central Park (T)
    9. Chilika Lake (T)
    10. City of Tigre and its rowing clubs (T)
    11. Cold Desert Cultural Landscape of India (T)
    12. Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
    13. Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
    14. Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
    15. Ekamra Kshetra - The Temple City, Bhubaneswar (T)
    16. Ellis Island (T)
    17. Extension of the World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Prague" with the important Monuments in its Vicinity (T)
    18. Greek Archaeological ensemble in Empúries, l'Escala, Girona (T)
    19. Gwalior Fort, Madhya Pradesh (T)
    20. Historic Lighthouses of The Bahamas (T)
    21. Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
    22. Iconic Riverfront of the Historic City of Varanasi (T)
    23. Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
    24. Khor Dubai (T)
    25. Lake Titicaca (T)
    26. Le complexe hydraulique romain de Zaghouan-Carthage (T)
    27. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (France) (T)
    28. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Italy) (T)
    29. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Monaco) (T)
    30. Manama, City of Trade, Multiculturalism and Religious Coexistence (T)
    31. Metz Royale et Impériale, enjeux de pouvoir, confrontations stylistiques et identité urbaine (T)
    32. Montado, Cultural Landscape (T)
    33. Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate (T)
    34. Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve (T)
    35. Mughal Gardens in Kashmir (T)
    36. Peruvian Central Railway (T)
    37. Rade de Marseille (T)
    38. Ring of cenotes of Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan (T)
    39. River island of Majuli (T)
    40. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in Portugal (T)
    41. Saar Heritage Park (T)
    42. San Pedro de Atacama (T)
    43. Sun Temple, Modhera and its adjoining monuments (T)
    44. The ancient complex of Preah Khan Kompong Svay (T)
    45. The Laponian Area - Tysfjord, the fjord of Hellemobotn and Rago (T)
    46. The Lofoten islands (T)
    47. The Marble Basin of Carrara (T)
    48. The Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad (T)
    49. Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins National Parks, Region of Magallanes (T)
    50. Zadar - Episcopal complex (T)

    Reviewed TWHS