The Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has been inscribed as the 45th UNESCO World Heritage Site of India. The announcement was made during the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) held in Busan, South Korea.
The site had been on the UNESCO Tentative List since 1998, marking the end of a 28-year wait for this designation. This is the 4th UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uttar Pradesh. With 45 sites, India now ranks 6th globally in terms of the number of World Heritage properties.