All posts tagged: heritage structure

Preserve historic platform built in 1861 at Nagapattinam railway station as a heritage structure: rail users

Preserve historic platform built in 1861 at Nagapattinam railway station as a heritage structure: rail users

Published by Parlour News

The historic platform shelter constructed at the Nagapattinam railway station during the British era. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Rail users in Nagapattinam have urged the Southern Railway to declare the historic platform shelter constructed at the Nagapattinam Railway Station during the colonial era as a railway heritage structure.  The railway station building, with a unique and fully covered platform shelter, was constructed in 1861 by the South Indian Railway Company period. This unique closed platform shelter is a priceless engineering and historical asset, say the rail users.  Nagore Nagapattinam Rail Users Association president S. Mohan said as one of the oldest surviving railway structures in the Southern Railway zone, the fully covered platform shelter established on Platform 1 at the Nagapattinam station deserves permanent heritage protection without altering its original heritage character.  Mr. Mohan said the Chennai Egmore and the Nagapattinam railway stations during the British period were provided with fully covered train shelter using imported girders and iron columns.  Even after 165 years, the iron pillars remained strong and free from corrosion reflecting the …

At 125, Old Delhi station gets heritage push

At 125, Old Delhi station gets heritage push

Published by Parlour News

Even as construction work is already under way to create a modern and swanky New Delhi railway station, Northern Railways’ plans for the 19th century Old Delhi station are in stark contrast. The Delhi division is coordinating with the railway board for the approval to preserve and protect the station as a heritage structure, while simultaneously upgrading its functionality for the future, officials aware of the matter said. Old Delhi railway station. (HT Archive) The plan will centre around conserving the station’s distinctive Mughal-style architecture – its red sandstone façade, arched windows and fort-like towers that mirror the grandeur of nearby monuments such as the Red Fort. Restoration work will prioritise structural stability and aesthetic preservation, with strict controls on alterations to the original design, officials said. “While the Railway station was designed keeping the nearby Red Fort in mind, it was built by the British, so it is not proper Mughal architecture. One can say it is inspired by Mughal architecture, keeping the same theme in mind the Mughals had for the Red Fort. This …

Barely standing: The Wall of Walled City

Barely standing: The Wall of Walled City

Published by Parlour News

New Delhi : In the mid-seventeenth century, when Mughal emperor Shah Jahan shifted his capital from Agra to the banks of the Yamuna, he imagined a city secure enough to guard an empire and grand enough to project its splendour. Thus, Shahjahanabad, the so-called seventh historic city of Delhi, was born enclosed within a formidable 13-metre-high, six-kilometre stone-and-rubble wall. With 13 monumental gateways and 14 smaller wicket gates punctuated this fortification, sealing the city’s boundary between what chroniclers often described as “civilisation and wilderness,” order and the chaotic world outside. A portion of the wall. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma) Originally made of mud, the wall was rebuilt in red sandstone in 1657. But centuries later, what survives is scattered, stressed, and scarred. Its decline started with the British conquest, and continues under civic neglect, unchecked construction, and layers of everyday urban life pressing against its stones. Today, last stretch of the fortification still standing, the Daryaganj section – often described as the best preserved – stands in distress. During a spot check along the 1.4-km …