Decision 38 COM 7B.22

Golden Temple of Dambulla (Sri Lanka) (C 561)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add and WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add.Corr,
2. Recalling Decision 21 COM VII.C.55 adopted at its 21st session (Naples, 1997),
3. Expresses its concern at the current situation under which the property has been managed solely by the Temple authorities without any involvement of the relevant authorities of the State Party;
4. Strongly requests the State Party to submit a state of conservation report as a matter of urgency and to invite an ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the property to carry out the following:
   1. a thorough analysis on the current situation on how the property is being managed by the Temple authorities and the role of the State Party including any remedial meassures if necessary,
   2. a thorough analysis of the state of conservation of the attributes namely, overall interior, paintings, sculptures and the spiritual atmosphere with proposals to ensure their protection,
   3. make a series of recommendations addressing the issues related to conservation and management of the property, in particular on its structure, that should involve not only the Temple authorities but also the relevant authorities of the State Party as well as current status of the maintenance and monitoring procedures in place;
5. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, a detailed report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the progress achieved in the state of conservation of the property, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.