India's World Heritage Site nominations

Every year there's a buzz in the air when countries send their tentative list of heritage sites to the UNESCO office in Paris. These entries are put through rigorous scrutiny by a global panel of experts before the appropriate ones get added to the prestigious 'World Heritage Site' list.



India recently released its nominees for the year that include:

Churchgate - Extension to Mumbai CST (28/01/2009)

Excavated Remains at Nalanda (09/01/2009)

Oak Grove School (28/01/2009)

The Kangra Valley Railway - Extension to the Mountain Railways of India (28/01/2009)

The Maharaja Railways of India (28/01/2009)




Overall India now has 23 entries (including some sent in earlier years) spanning diverse sites such as Kutch's Wild Ass Sanctuary, Ladakh's Hemis Gompa, the Western Ghat among others. The approved list is due to be announced in June when the world body meets in Spain.



World Heritage Sites are broadly divided under two categories - cultural or natural sites. Therefore sites like Taj Mahal, Konark Temple, Hampi fall under the former, while the latter comprises National Parks such as Kaziranga, Keoladeo, Manas.




In the pecking order of maximum listings, small countries with rich histories and distinct culture like Italy (47) and Spain currently lead the pack. China, Mexico, India and the UK have over 25 each. India with its veritable mine of hidden repositories is favourably positioned to scale the ladder in years to come. But this is moment to celebrated the five that have presently been nominated.




Churchgate:

This historic building today houses the Headquarters of Western Railway. Built in the 19th century as the Headquarters of the erstwhile Bombay Baroda & Central India Railways (BB&CI), it was completed in 1899. Architect F.W. Stevens had earlier completed CST (VT). Its architectural style is an amalgamation of Indo-Saracenic with colonial and Islamic, in sharp contrast to the Gothic Victorian style of CST. It's essentially a massive stone structure with multiple domes. It stands on the site of an old church gate that one stood there.




In an age where air travel has become the preferred mode of travel, and the once iconic railway stations like the Union Terminal in Cincinnati (1933) and the Musee D' Orsay in Paris have lost their charm due to fall in traffic, Churchgate & CST are abuzz with life and evoke a grandeur of an era gone by. In that sense they are living heritage.



Nalanda:

Founded in the 5th century AD it went on to become a preeminent centre of learning in ancient India. Although the Buddha visited Nalanda several times during his lifetime, Nalanda came into reckoning through the writings of Hieun Tsang. He came to Nalanda in the 7th century AD and wrote extensively about the excellence of its education system and purity of monastic life. His vivid accounts of both the atmosphere and architecture of this unique university of ancient times brought recognition to the university across the world at large over a period of time. Many believe this to be first residential international university of the world with over 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monks students from all over the Buddhist world. It predates the ancient universities of Europe like Bologna by a good 6 to 7 centuries. Many kings were its patrons. They built temples, monasteries and viharas here. The total area excavated stands at 14 hectares. In recent years a group of intellectuals lead by Amartya Sen are in the process of setting up a centre for International Studies. It is going to be a multi-nation initiative. $1 billion is being raised to revive Nalanda University near the ancient site. A consortium led by Singapore and including China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand apart from host India is in the process of finalising details.







Oak Grove School:

Situated at a height of 5222 ft. in Jharipani, about 7 km from Mussoorie, Oak Grove school was started in 1888 by East India Railway Company. This school today is the finest railway school in India with an illustrious alumni scattered across North America, Europe & Australia apart from India. It is also home to a wide variety of flora such as crocus, zephyrs lilies, dahlias, honeysuckle, barberry and birds like the white eye, rose ringed parakeet, whistling thrush, kaleej pheasant & the Himalayan barbet making it a great setting to nurture young minds. Its Gothic architecture made from the dominant local rock of shale & limestone only adds to the overall setting.




Kangra Valley Railway & The Maharaja Railways of India

India already has three railways in the World Heritage List. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 46-km long metre-gauge single-track railway in Tamil Nadu State was the second. The Kalka-Shimla Railway was the last. All three railways are still fully operational. Attempting to join this elite trio are the Kangra Valley Railway & The Maharaja Railways of India.




Maharaja Railways of India emerged in the 19th century. The Gwalior Light Railway (GLR) was a remarkable initiative by Indians. At the time establishing a railway without the involvement and approval of the British rulers in India was quite path breaking. The King of Jodhpur was the first to do so. Gwalior soon followed suit. GLR completed 100 years in 2009. The trains on this route (Gwalior to

Sheopur Kalan) run efficiently offering an enchanting ride with a toy train experience in the countryside of Central India. Like most narrow gauge rail experiences, it is a great way see and feel life in these parts.




Kangra Valley Railway runs between two unassuming towns - Pathankot in the Punjab plains and Joginder Nagar in the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh. But what lies in between is unspoilt nature with the picturesque Dhauladhar ranges of the Himalayas forming a grand backdrop. Gazing at panorama of snow clad ranges and the gold green fields is a visual treat. The mountain terrain involves the bridging of ravines and mountain torrents many of which are noteworthy engineering marvels. Over its length of 163.720 kilometers, the journey crosses over 993 bridges, runs through two tunnels and winds through 484 curves (sharpest being 300 equal to 58.33 m).




All the above mentioned entries are worthy of being preserved as heritage. They are our legacy from the past, we should ensure that we pass this on to the generation. Every India travel guide should feature these.

Author Bio :

Rajesh Mishra is currently the content editor of raahi.com - a leading portal in the travel domain. He has many published articles on travel, sports, architecture and design. Your feedback and comments are most welcome at rajeshsportmishra@gmail.com.