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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with
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Scenes from a small railway station in the hills

Passing via Kangra Railway Station en route to the Kangra Fort, it was impossible for us to simply pass by, without taking a closer look. 




Ideally, we would have loved to take the train... the Kangra Valley Railway is one of the Heritage Hill Trains of India, but time was a big factor, and the train timings didn't match our schedule. We settled instead for just a peek at the railway station. The next train was due only an hour later, and our delight at the old world charm of the station provided quite some amusement to the few passengers patiently awaiting it. Here are a few scenes from the station... take a look, and I am sure you will agree that these tiny stations are truly charming, compared to the steel cages our new ones are! 

A view of the main station from the platform.. and the manual track changing apparatus...


What a pretty shop this is, isn't it? with the vines growing all over? Shankar went to take a look at what was available, and the gentleman's eyes simply followed him, while the lady in the shop stared at me. They were probably wondering why we were there, clicking photos of their local railway station!  

The ticket counter... quaint, isn't it? 


The Time Tables, painted in the old style. The idea is two-fold.. to remind you of a time when all stations had such painted boards.. and to help you if you ever plan a trip here and want to take the train!

Take a look at these fares too. They are current fares, and at Rs. 20 and 25, are a steal, for journeys lasting half a day!! And the First Class Fares makes me want to go at once!! Hope I can visit Dharamsala again soon! 



Finally, this pretty structure stood aloof, probably a cabin used by the station master, but there was no board, so I have no idea what it is. 


Pretty and picturesque as it is, the Kangra Railway Station is not unique. We see such old railway stations across India, on the mountains as well as plains. Built in colonial times, they share a similar architecture, which today charms us by its rarity. Our new railway stations might have digital screens and latest technology to hasten and make safer our train journeys, but there is something about these which draws us again and again! 


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Location: Kangra Railway Station, Kaswara, Himachal Pradesh 176038, India

Comments

  1. TravellingcameraAugust 19, 2015 at 12:49 PM

    I have visited Kangra, Palampur and Dharmshala many times, but never got a chance to visit the railway station. I did few journeys on Shimla-Kalka route but this is something I have to plan in near future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. R Niranjan DasAugust 19, 2015 at 6:13 PM

    Such a pretty station. It still exudes the old world charm. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TusharAugust 20, 2015 at 9:04 AM

    Old is Gold - They say. Nice observation. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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