Bhubaneswar, July 30: As Ekamra Kshetra — comprising Old Bhubaneswar and its adjacent area — has made it to the tentative list of sites to be considered for world heritage status by the Unesco, the state archaeology has geared up to conserve monuments here.

“The Ekamra Kshetra and Chilika lake have been listed in the tentative list of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) this year as cultural and natural heritage sites, respectively. To get into the final list, they have to undergo two more phases of answering questionnaires and preparing dossiers. These will be submitted to the Unesco. After that, teams from the Unesco will visit and evaluate the outstanding universal value,’’ said director of culture Sushil Kumar Das.

As the conservation quality, access to the monuments, overall upkeep and care and development of the surroundings are to be rightly shaped as per international standards, the state archaeology has started its move to ensure them. A senior archaeologist of the state archaeology said: “The Ekamra Kshetra has the unique cultural heritage of having Buddhist sites at Dhauli, Jain sites at Khandagiri-Udayagiri and Hindu temples in and around the Old Bhubaneswar area. We will project its historical, archaeological and sculptural elements to augment its outstanding universal value.’’ Sources said major monuments such as Ekamreswar, Aishaneswar, Purbeswar, Subarnajaleswar, Tirtheswar and Laxmaneswar group of temples had already been given a facelift and more would be done in near future.

Old Bhubaneswar resident and faculty at a management college, Sujata Rath said: “We are happy that at least the name of Ekamra Kshetra has entered the tentative list of the Unesco world heritage sites. As the confirmation means a lot in terms of tourism promotion, the state government should take every care to reach the final goal.’’

Besides upkeep of the monuments in the Old Town area, due attention will be given to add new ones to the list.

“The Suka-Sari temple near the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected site Sari temple on the southern bank of Bindusagar will be protected by the state archaeology. To stop trespassers, nails will be mounted on the compound wall,’’ said archaeologist Ashwinee Satpathy.

Historians said that in the past the entire Ekamra Kshetra was dotted with many monuments, but they gradually disappeared due to increasing urbanisation. Therefore, preservation and conservation of these monuments should be given immense importance by the state archaeology.

ASI superintending archaeologist (Bhubaneswar circle) Bhuvan Vikrama said: “Ekamra Kshetra’s mention in the tentative list of world heritage sites is an interesting development, but we have no information on this from the state government.’’