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The Chairman, Railway Board, Shri R.K. Singh today received the certificate from UNESCO, Paris, for inscribing the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) on the World Heritage List. A certificate to this effect was presented by the Officer-in-Charge of Culture in UNESCO (New Delhi). Other senior officers of the Railway Board were present on the occasion.
The UNESCO has inscribed the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus on the World Heritage List in a decision taken at the World Heritage Committee at its 28th session in Suzhou, China, between 20th June to 7th July, 2004.
The Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Station in Mumbai is an outstanding example of Victorian gothic revival architecture in India, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture. The building designed by the British architect, F.W. Stevens, became the symbol of Mumbai as the gothic city and the major international mercantile port of India. The terminal was built over 10 years starting in 1878 according to a high Victorian Gothic design based on late medieval Italian models. Its remarkable stone dome, turrets, pointed arches and eccentric ground plan are close to traditional Indian palace architecture. It is an outstanding example of the meeting of two cultures as British architect worked with Indian craftsmen to include Indian architectural tradition and idioms forging a new unique style to Mumbai. The CST is also the focal point of the high quality of the urban fabric in the fort precinct and forms a fine example of development in the 19th century Mumbai.
The Ministry of Railways is conserving the Mumbai CST in terms of its architectural splendour, cultural values and as a World Heritage site.
HB:BKS:CKB
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