The Central Railway (CR) headquarters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) will be a hive of activity this heritage week —starting July 2 till July 8 — with the authorities set to pull out all the st
The Central Railway (CR) headquarters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) will be a hive of activity this heritage week —starting July 2 till July 8 — with the authorities set to pull out all the stops to take it up a notch higher.
Calling for a major push to be given to the heritage week, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu had said that not enough was being done to showcase the grandeur of the iconic CST architecture. Keeping this in mind, the CR will not limit its focus to the CST gallery, but will encourage commuters to take part in interactive sessions with architects, quizzes — all this for free. CST was recognised as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2004, but its heritage show earlier had failed to elicit the desired commuter response.
“The approach has completely changed this time. We will conduct quizzes, hold interactive sessions between architects and commuters, and even organise a few of our friends from Bollywood to speak on the role of the Mumbai locals in cinema,” said A.K. Srivastava, additional general manager (AGM), CR.
From July 2 to 8, an exhibition of the original drawings that were prepared before the current heritage structure was built will be displayed between platform no. 7 and 8. On July 3, a ‘Heritage Walk’, will be conducted by architect Vikas Dilawari from 9 to 10.30 am.
The walk will focus on the beauty and fusion of Indian and Gothic architecture. “We have made sure the heritage walk is not too technical, so the common man is able to easily comprehend why animals forms such as gargoyles were used on the pillars. We have designed the walk accordingly,” added Mr Srivastava.
A quiz will be held on the same day between 11 am and 1 pm to be conducted by quiz master Derek O’Brien and is open to everyone. A few schools have already submitted their registration for the event.
Commuters can log in to the facebook page called CST Heritage week, the link for the same is www.facebook.com/cstheritage/.
