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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Progress and more at Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus)

For a long time, I thought she was Queen Victoria, and I often wondered why she had a torch in her hand. The only other lady I knew who held a torch was the Lady of Liberty, and her standing here didn’t make sense either. After all, this was Victoria Terminus. It should be Queen Victoria standing up there, right?




That was a long time back, when I was in school, and Victoria Terminus was just another railway station… a grand and beautiful one, which awed most of her visitors, but it wasn’t the UNESCO World Heritage Site it is today, and information about it was hard to come by. It was only much later that I learnt that she is the Lady of Progress, and that she holds that torch to show us the path ahead. Her left hand rests on a wheel – her symbol.

The statue of Progress seems to be dwarfed by the sheer size and number of turrets..


She is not the only woman up there on the beautiful structure. She is accompanied by three other statues - one representing Agriculture, another Engineering & Science, and the third, Shipping and Commerce - the pillars of progress. And yes, Queen Victoria was there too, on a niche in the central dome. Unfortunately, we can’t see her any more, since no one seems to know where she is.

A broader view, showing two other statues.. on the gables on either side


They stand out there, in the open, waiting to be seen, to be admired, but it isn’t an easy matter, for this is one of the busiest railway stations in the world, still used for the purpose it was built for – which only makes me admire it all the more! Unfortunately, I am unable to find information which can help me identify these sculptures. Here is a closer look at two of them.... Do you know which they are? If you do, please enlighten me and my readers by leaving a comment below, and I will update this post.






I managed to click these photographs while on an open decker bus tour, courtesy Audio Compass, who have launched a new Android App which helps us appreciate these beautiful heritage landmarks of our city. Also, the heritage gallery of the station (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) is open to the public, from 3 to 5 PM on weekdays. Such initiatives are long overdue, and we need to make the most of them. So, stay tuned, for a photo tour of both, the Fort area in Mumbai, as well as glimpse into the CST Heritage Gallery, both of which are coming up soon….. Watch this space! 

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Location: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Area, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 22, 2014 at 10:16 AM

    Wow!! This place is so closed to our heart & still so far as we are busy in our own lives. Crisply written article, which gives all the facets of the place!! Anu pl. elaborate on Audio Compass Bus Tour. have you downloaded some photos from APPS or you could take from the Bus Top ?

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarMarch 24, 2014 at 12:42 PM

      Thank you, Dilip! all the photos are ones i clicked on the tour

      Delete
  2. SudhageeMarch 28, 2014 at 4:05 PM

    For a long time, I thought the statue of progress was "The Grand Old Lady of Boribunder", till I was corrected. :)

    The 3 statues are Agriculture, Engineering & Science, and Shipping and Commerce ? But it is difficult to figure out which is which.

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarMarch 28, 2014 at 4:17 PM

      Wow! 'Grand old lady of Boribunder' sounds so much more interesting.. And we could have thought up a few interesting legends around her too :-) but yes, those are the three other sculptures. They are sometimes mixed up, but these are the names according to the CST heritage gallery. We must make a leisurely early morning visit and try to figure out which is which. Am sure there are lots of references to Greek and Roman myths behind their depiction, so we can drag kiddo asking too :-)

      Delete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2018 at 6:15 AM

    Wow Simply Superb

    ReplyDelete

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