World Heritage day also called as the International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS) is celebrated on 18th April Every year to honor and protect our cultural legacy. The idea of World Heritage day came into picture in 1960s when the Abu Simbel Temples which were on the verge of drowning due of construction of a dam were successfully relocated and preserved. The idea behind the preservation of the monuments is that these monuments transcend the national boundaries in their importance and the entire global community should come forward to preserve them.
When we talk about the World heritage day it is very hard to ignore the Heritage of Railways. It is widely accepted that one single event that has impact mankind the most is perhaps the Evolution of Railways, especially during the Industrial Revolution.
Railways not only has a profound impact on the way people move from one place to another but they even impacted the design of household items. The shift from firewood to Coal(Due to Railways) marked a shift in the design of cooking utensils from elliptical to Flat. Similarly Railways helped built the national brands and local produce became popular worldwide due to Railways. The famous Scotch Whiskey could became known worldwide due to Railways. The entire Victorian diet patterns evolved with the origin of railways. The produce from the country side could be transported easily to the cities hence cities could now enjoy the fresher produce sourced from the villages. The origin of the mass tourism industry is largely attributed to the railways.
Railways as an idea was conceived in India in 1830s with first proposal being a Horse-Drawn Railways in the state of Madras which was never build. With almost 2 decades of experimentation the first train finally ran on 16th April 1853 from Bori-Bunder to Thane. This was not just a train rather it was the dawn of a new era in India. Indians embraced the railways like their own and made it their primary means of travel. Very soon Indian Railways became the microcosm of the country as commented in a popular culture “Indian Railways is where India meets itself—rich and poor, urban and rural, north and south—all in one compartment.”
When we talk about the railway heritage we generally talk of the Steam locomotives, heritage buildings and the Popular hill railways like Kalka-Shimla Railways and Darjeeling-Himalayan Railways. However the railway heritage in India is much more than this. Railways in India has worked as the unifier of the country. As rightly remarked- “The Railways is more than a system of trains. It is a unifier of India.”
Railways helped India not only in developing modern infrastructure but even in developing a modern outlook. As remarked by Dr Ambedkar “The railways have done more to break caste than all the reforms ever attempted by reformers.” The intermingling of people while travelling in the railway compartments helped break the caste barriers. It also helped in building national consciousness. Many of the national leaders like Gandhi ji and Ambedkar travelled in trains to get a glimpse of the real India. Gandhiji always travelled in third class to connect with the real India. This made him a leader of the masses. Railways allowed for rapid mobilization for political movements, including the Non-Cooperation Movement, Dandi March, and Quit India Movement It helped nationalist newspapers and pamphlets spread across regions, especially to rural India. The spread of national consciousness is largely attributed to the Railways in India as it worked as the real unifier of the nation.
Indian Railways is truly the lifeline of nation. Even today the maximum of Indian Population travels through railways. Railways has been termed as the Engine of Nation’s development by our Prime Minister. And it carries a great heritage even while dwelling into the era of Modernisation.