The pyramid-like structures known as moidams or maidams in Assam have met all of UNESCO’s technical requirements.
Charaideo Maidams
- The Charaideo maidams represents the Assamese Tai Ahom community’s late mediaeval (13th-19th century CE) mound burial tradition.
- The Ahoms preferred to bury their ancestors at Charaideo, where the first king Sukapha was buried.
- According to historical records, wives, attendants, pet animals, and a large amount of valuables were buried with the departed kings.
- The Charaideo Maidams enshrine the mortal remains of Ahom royalty, who were previously buried with their paraphernalia.
- After the 18th century, the Ahom rulers adopted the Hindu cremation method and began burying cremated bones and ashes in a Maidam at Charaideo.
- Out of the 386 Maidams discovered thus far, 90 royal burials at Charaideo are the best preserved, representative, and complete examples of the Ahoms’ mound burial tradition.
Architectural specifics
- It is designed as a massive underground vault with one or more chambers with domical superstructures.
- It is surrounded by an earthen mound heap and appears to be a hemispherical mound from the outside.
- A small open pavilion chow-chali is provided at the top of the mound.
- The entire maidam is surrounded by an octagonal dwarf wall.
Source: https://nenow.in/north-east-news/assam/assam-charaideo-maidams-meet-unesco-requirements-for-inscription.html