Indian Railways has been serving the nation for past 170 years, but only a few know that the first passenger train started on April 16, 1853 from Bori Bunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 km.
Since then, the day has been marked as the Indian Rail Transport Day.
To mark the glorious 170 years of journey and service to the nation, Indian Railways is organising Light and Sound Show at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), a UNESCO heritage site in Mumbai, on April 17.
The 134-year-old Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) complex in Mumbai has been lit up with around 1,100 lights to mark the occasion.
The light and sound-cum-performance show has been named ‘Navarasangam Ek Gatha CSMT Ki’. “The show is meant to celebrate the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and to mark the 170th year of the Railway’s in India,” the Central Railway said in a release.
“The show will depict the history through the various emotions of the nine rasas (emotions) of ‘Natyashastra’," it said, adding that it is to commemorate the first journey of Railways in India, ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and the Railway Week and World Heritage Day (on April 18).
The first train in Asia (and India) ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853, whereas the Indian Railways enters into its 170th year of service to the nation from April 16, 2022. The programme would be presented through dance, drama, music, poetry and vocal renditions, bringing out the different emotions based on various historical episodes of the history of CSMT building, railways and the country, it said.
“CSMT is a pride of Indian Railways and entire railway fraternity. To celebrate the heritage and architecture of this building, we are staging a unique light and sound-cum-performance show on the backdrop of this building," said Anil Kumar Lahoti, general manager of the Central Railway.
