India doesn’t know where 35 of its historic monuments have disappeared

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Indian government agency responsible for preserving the country’s cultural heritage, has a startling revelation on offer. It just doesn’t know where 35 of its protected monuments have disappeared. “Untraceable” is the word they use.

This information, which came as an answer to a question in Parliament on March 12, says that from a pre-historic site in Mysore to the remains of an ancient building in Nanital, from a 12th-century temple in Rajasthan to the guns Sher Shah used, many of what should have been India’s prized possessions are nowhere to be found.

“We might have lost them because of modern construction, encroachment or perhaps destruction dating back to the British Raj.”