Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has initiated the process to get Orchha declared as a world heritage site. The tourism department has written to the Archaeological Survey of India to include Orchha in its tentative list of world heritage sites.As a routine procedure, ASI shortlists a site and sends it to UNESCO for declaring it as a world heritage site. It takes years in the process, but officials explained that it is important to first be in the ASI's tentative list, before finding a place in the list of world heritage sites.Mandu, another fort city of Madhya Pradesh, has been in ASI's tentative list for around ten years now, but could not be declared as a world heritage site.Orchha lies on the Betwa river, 80 km from Tikamgarh district in MP, and 15 km from Jhansi in UP. It is famous for palaces such as Raja Mahal or Raja Mandir, Sheesh Mahal, Jahangir Mahal, Ram temple, gardens and pavilions. Officials said the objective is to declare the entire town as a world heritage site and not just one palace.This is MP tourism's second bid to promote Orchha. In September 2016, the government opened the Jahangir Mahal in Orchha as MP's first destination wedding venue. However, it failed to attract response as Orchha is not well connected by rail and airways, officials explained.Managing director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism, Hari Ranjan Rao, said they have written to the Archaeological Survey of India to include Orchha in its tentative list of world heritage sites. It takes time to declare a place as a world heritage site, but the process has to be started, he added.

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