National Geological Monuments of India

National Geological Monuments are geographical areas of national importance and heritage, as notified by the Government of India's Geological Survey of India (GSI), for their maintenance, protection, promotion and enhancement of geotourism.^[1][2][3]

Natural stone arch in Tirumala.

List of National Geological Monuments

There are 34 notified National Geological Heritage Monument Sites of India. GSI or the respective State governments are responsible for taking necessary measures to protect these sites.^[2][3]

List of Geological Heritage Sites / National Geological Monuments of India

No.	Image	Geo-Heritage site	Location	District	State	Geotourism Category	Reference
1		Volcanogenic bedded Barytes	Mangampeta	Kadapa district	Andhra Pradesh	EcoGeo Monuments	[2]
2		Tirupati Eparchaean Unconformity	in the steep natural slopes, road scars and ravines on the Tirupati-Tirumala Ghat road	Chittoor district	Andhra Pradesh	Stratigraphy Monuments	[2]
3		Tirumala Natural Geological Arch	Tirumala Hills	Chittoor district	Andhra Pradesh	Geological Marvels	[2]
4		Erra Matti Dibbalu	the dissected and stabilized coastal red sediment mounds located between Vishakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam	Visakhapatnam district	Andhra Pradesh	Geological Marvels	[2]
5		Angadipuram Laterite	near Angadipuram PWD rest house premises	Malappuram district	Kerala	EcoGeo Monuments	[2]
6		Varkala Cliff Section	Varkala	Thiruvananthapuram district	Kerala	Geological Marvels	[2]
7		National Fossil Wood Park, Tiruvakkarai	near Thiruvakkarai village, Vanur taluk	Viluppuram district	Tamil nadu	Fossil Park	[2]
8		National Fossil Wood Park, Sathanur	Sathanur	Perambalur district,	Tamil nadu	Fossil Park	[2]
9		St. Thomas Charnockite	St. Thomas Mount, Chennai	Chennai district	Tamil nadu	Rock Monuments	[2]
10		Karai Badlands Formation Fossil Park	Badlands of Karai Formation with Cretaceous fossils along Karai – Kulakkalnattam Section	Perambalur district	Tamil nadu	Fossil Park	[2]
11		Eddy Current Marking - Sedimentary Structures	Kadana Dam	Mahisagar district	Gujarat	Geological Marvels	[2]
12		Sendra Granite		Pali district	Rajasthan	Geological Marvels	[2]
13		Barr Conglomerate		Pali district	Rajasthan	Rock Monuments	[2]
14		Stromatolite Fossil Park	Jharmar Kotra Rock Phosphate deposit	Udaipur district	Rajasthan	Stromatolite Park	[2]
15		Gossan in Rajpura-Dariba Mineralised belt		Udaipur district	Rajasthan	EcoGeo Monuments	[2]
16		Bhojunda Stromatolite Park		Chittaurgarh district	Rajasthan	Stromatolite Park	[2]
17		Akal Wood Fossil Park		Jaisalmer district	Rajasthan	Fossil Park	[2]
18		Kishangarh Nepheline Syenite	Kishangarh	Ajmer district	Rajasthan	Rock Monuments	[2]
19		Jodhpur Welded Tuff		Jodhpur district	Rajasthan	Rock Monuments	[2]
20		Jodhpur Group – Malani Igneous Suite Contact		Jodhpur district	Rajasthan	Stratigraphy Monuments	[2]
21		Great Boundary Fault at Satur		Bundi district	Rajasthan	Stratigraphy Monuments	[2]
22		Lonar Lake		Buldhana district	Maharashtra	Geological Marvels	[2]
23		Lower Permian Marine bed at Manendragarh (Marine Gondwana Fossil Park)		Surguja district	Chhattisgarh	Fossil Park	[2]
24		Columnar Basaltic Lava of Coconut Island (St. Mary Island)	St. Mary's Islands	Udupi district	Karnataka	Rock Monuments	[2]
25		Pillow lavas near Mardihalli		Chitradurga district	Karnataka	Rock Monuments	[2]
26		Peninsular Gneiss of Lalbagh	Bangalore	Bangalore Urban district	Karnataka	Rock Monuments	[2]
27		Pyroclastics & Pillow lavas of Kolar Gold fields	Peddapalli	Kolar district	Karnataka	Rock Monuments	[2]
28		Shivalik Fossil Park	Suketi	Sirmaur district	Himachal Pradesh	Fossil Park	[2]
29		Pillow Lava in lron ore belt at Nomira		Keonjhar district	Odisha	Rock Monuments	[2]
30		Plant Fossil bearing Inter-trappean beds of Rajmahal Formation	upper Gondwana sequence around Mandro	Sahibganj district	Jharkhand	Fossil Park	[2]
31		Nagahill Ophiolite Site	near Pungro		Nagaland	Rock Monuments	[2]
32		Stromatolite bearing Dolomite / Limestone of Buxa Formation at Mamley	Namchi	South Sikkim district	Sikkim	Stromatolite Park	[2]
33		Ramgarh crater	Ramgarh	Baran district	Rajasthan	Geological Marvels	[4]
34		Zawar lead-zinc mine	Zawar	Udaipur district	Rajasthan		[4]

Geo-tourism sites in Northeast India

There are 12 geo-tourism sites in Northeast India notified by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for promotion of geo-tourism.^[5][6][7]

List of Geotourism Sites in Northeast India

No.	Image	Geo-Heritage site	Location	District	State	Geotourism Category and reference
1		Mawmluh Cave	Cherrapunji	East Khasi Hills district	Meghalaya	Geo-tourism: Cave belongs to Meghalayan Age, which is a major abrupt climatic event with critical drought and cooling 4,200 years ago which was determined from a stalagmite from Mawmluh cave.[8] In the geologic time scale, the Meghalayan is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Quaternary.[9]
2		Mawblei God’s Rock		East Khasi Hills district	Meghalaya	Geo-tourism: A megalith, Mahadek sandstone of Khasi group of cretaceous period, inclined at 45 degrees on a slope of a hill of Wahrashi River valley is a sacred site for Khasi people.[8]
3		Therriaghat		East Khasi Hills district	Meghalaya	Geo-tourism: Best-preserved and most complete Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in India. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period caused sudden extinction of the large vertebrates, plankton and many tropical invertebrates.[8]
4		Majuli	Majuli island	Majuli district	Assam	Geo-tourism: World's largest river island in Brahmaputra river has sacred Hindu Vaishnavite sampradaya's satra (kshetra or monasteries) set up by in 15th-16th century Srimanta Sankaradeva. The eco-region is conserved by the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha.[8]
5		Umananda Island	Brahmaputra river	Guwahati	Assam	Geo-tourism: islet is an inselberg made of rocks of Assam-Meghalaya gneissic complex.[8]
6		Chabimura		Gomati district	Tripura	Geo-tourism: 15th-16th century sacred Hindu site with rock carvings on a cliff of Gomti River with massive rock cut images of Shiva, Vishnu, Karthikeya, Durga and other Hindu deities highest of which is 20 ft.[8]
7		Unakoti		Unakoti district	Tripura	Geo-tourism: 7th-9th centuries rock-cut sculptures and Shaiva temples. Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava shiva statue is 30 feet tall.[8]
8		Sangestar Tso		Tawang district	Arunachal Pradesh	Geo-tourism: Also called as Madhuri Lake, created by damming of river due to earthquake in 1950, is nestled in a lush valley midst of snowy mountain peaks and freezes in winter.[8]
9		Loktak Lake		Bishnupur district	Manipur	Geo-tourism: It is a phumdi (floating biomass) with phumsangs (tribal huts of fishermen) which is also the Keibul Lamjao National Park - world's only floating wildlife habitat on the southwestern part of lake.[8]
10		Reiek Tlang		Aizawl	Mizoram	Geo-tourism: It is a cuesta (a hill with a gentle slope on one side and a steep slope on the other) created by erosion of the tertiary sand shale alterations.[8]
11		Nagahill Ophiolite Site	Pungro	Kiphire district	Nagaland	Geo-tourism:[8]
12		Mamley Stromatolite Park	Namchi	South Sikkim district	Sikkim	Geo-tourism: Also called "Buxa Formation of Mamley", is Algal mat#StromatolitesStromatolite Algal mat with circular structures in the limestone of Proterozoic Buxa Formation microbiota microfossils of Ranjit Window is rare examples of early life on Earth in the Sikkim Himalayas.[8]

See also

• Monuments of National Importance of India
• State Protected Monuments of India
• List of World Heritage Sites in India
• List of Water Heritage Sites in India
• List of columnar jointed volcanics in India
• Menhirs in India
• List of rock-cut temples in India
• List of forts in India
• List of museums in India

References

1. "National Geological Monument, from Geological Survey of India website". Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
2. "Geo-Heritage Sites". pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
3. national geo-heritage of India, INTACH
4. "Ramgarh, Zawar accepted as geo-heritage sites in Rajasthan". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
5. Karmakar, Rahul (20 August 2021). "GSI lists geo-tourism sites in NE to visit after 'unlock'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
6. "GSI lists geo-tourism spots in the Northeast to explore post-pandemic". Deccan Herald. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
7. "GSI lists geo-tourism sites in North east - JournalsOfIndia". 24 August 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
8. GSI lists geo-tourism sites in North east, Journals of India, 24 August 2021.
9. Cohen, K. M.; Finney, S. C.; Gibbard, P. L.; Fan, J-X. (January 2020). "International Chronostratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. Retrieved 8 January 2021.

External links

• Monograph on national geoheritage sites of India, by INTACH
• Interactive GIS map
• Map
• Information on Geo-Heritage sites