The below narrative of Tiruvannamalai is from a 1900 Southern Indian
Railways Guide Book of stations and places of interest in South
India.
Tiruvannamalai (lat. 12°15'; long. 79°07'; pop. 12,155) is the
headquarters of the taluq of the same name in the South Arcot District,
41¾ miles north-west from Villupuram and 57½ miles from Katpadi
Junction. The name Tiruvannamalai, which means the sacred red mountain,
has been given to the town from the red appearance before sunrise of the
hill below which it lies. It is the first town on the road from the
Baramaha in the Salem district, through the Chengam Pass and from it
roads diverge to the north, south and to the coast. It is thus a trade
centre for South Arcot and the country above the ghats, while its hill
with three fortified peaks has always been considered an important
military point. The main peak is covered with jungle accessible only on
foot and from its summit rises a natural vertical column held by Siva
Brahmans to be a sacred lingam. The peak is 2,668 feet high and the
town, which is situated at the foot of it, is about three-quarter mile
south-west of the Railway station.
Local Accommodation. - A travellers' bungalow close to the station, which
contains two rooms fully furnished, is in charge of a butler, who can
supply meals, if required; but spirits and aerated waters must be
privately purchased. The daily charge for the use of this bungalow is
one rupee for each person, but if two persons share one room, only Rs.
1-8-0 per diem is charged. There are 4 chuttrams and 37 maddams in the
town, where free accommodation is allowed to all classes of Hindus. In
two of the chuttrams, meals are supplied gratis for three days, but in
the others travellers must make their own arrangements. There are also
more than a dozen hotels, in which meals are served to all classes at
from 2½ to 3 annas per meal. The Municipality maintains a dispensary.
Road Conveyance. - Jutkas and bullock-carts are procurable at the station.
Bungalow. - when not in use by railway officers, may be occupied by any
European gentleman with the previous sanction of the Resident Engineer
residing at Vellore. If gentlemen are accompanied by their families, the
prior sanction of the Agent, South Indian Railway, must be obtained.
The charge for the use of this bungalow is for each person: -
Per Diem - 12 annas
For a stay not exceeding 8 hours - 8 annas
The rest-house is partially furnished, but travellers must make their arrangements for food while staying there.
Local Manufacturers and Products: - The chief products are jaggery,
paddy, ragi, kumboo, cholam, sugarcane, soap-nuts, myrabolams, tobacco.
Bamboos and granite obtained from four large quarries around the foot of
the hill.
Local Officials. - The Tahsildar, Sub-Magistrate, Sub-Registrar, Municipal
Chairman, Forest Ranger, Police Inspector, Salt Inspector and Hospital
Assistant.
Fairs. - A fair is held in the town every Tuesday, and during the yearly Karthigai Festival, a large cattle market is also held.
Missions, Churches, etc. - About two miles south of the station is a Church of the Danish Mission.
Clubs. - A reading room for all Indians is maintained in the town.
Historical. - The large Siva temple at the foot of the hill dedicated to
the "Tejo" or "Fire" lingam. It has four large gopurams from nine to
eleven storeys high, and five minor ones. The temple contains many
inscriptions and several fine structures, among which may be specially
mentioned the small temple of Ganesha and the hall of 1,000 columns. The
Nattukottai Chetties, a wealthy mercantile community, are at present
erecting a fine mantapam containing 24 columns of polished granite, and
are about to undertake extensive restorations.
The temple is famous on account of the Karthigai festival celebrated in
honour of the completion of Parvati's penance and her reconciliation
with Siva, who then appeared to her in the form of a flame of fire
spouting from the top of Tiruvannamalai Hill, and thus terminating the
darkness which had enveloped the world. The festival continues 10 days,
and on the evening of the last day, just before the rising of the full
moon, is performed the ceremony of the "Dipam." This consists in the
temple, Brahmans removing a large covered vessel of blazing camphor from
before the lingam within the Mulastanam or "holy of holies," and
carrying it to a mantapam in the centre of the temple courtyard, when
the cover is suddenly removed and the flaming camphor dashed on the
ground in front of the idol Arunachaleswarar (Siva), which has been
previously placed in the mantapam. This is the signal for a party of
temple Brahmans to light up on the top of the hill a large torch built
up in huge bowl containing the camphor and ghee which has been offered
by pilgrims during the festival. The blaze generally lasts for 48 hours,
and the worshipper who first sees it, after having witnessed the
ceremony in front of the idol, is supposed to secure great good fortune
for the future. The rush of pilgrims to view the flame on the hill-top
is so great that only by careful security are accidents prevented. The
number of persons attending the festival has been estimated at the high
figure of 100,000.
Behind the temple on the hill above is a tank known by the name of
Mulaippal Theertham and which is noted for the remarkable purity of its
water. In the hills about Tiruvannamalai are several rock-cut caves, and
on a low eminence, quarter mile west of the station, is a small temple
dedicated to Subramanya, the eldest son of Siva.
Conversion of Rail Gauge, Tiruvannamalai
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1985, steam
locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and electric
locomotives. In 1951 the diverse railway system was nationalized and
became one unit with six zonal divisions, which for administrative
purposes, is currently divided into eighteen zones. One of those zones
is Southern Railways, which in its present form, came into existence on
14th April 1951 through the merger of three state railways; Madras and
Southern Mahratta Railway, South Indian Railway, and Mysore State
Railway. At present, after re-organization of existing railway zones,
Southern Railway has emerged as the 4th largest zone after undertaking
some gauge conversion projects and creation of new lines.
Recently work was undertaken at Tiruvannamalai converting Metre Gauge
tracks to Broad Gauge and the development and modernisation of
Tiruvannamalai Station and its surrounds. Metre gauge is still found on a
decreasing amount of the Indian Rail network. It is said that metre
gauge was chosen by Lord Mayo (then Viceroy of India) based on
calculations to allow four persons to sit comfortably abreast; it would
have been 3'3" except that there was a push (at that time) to move to
the metric system and so the gauge became one metre. However, the metric
system was not adopted until nearly a century later, so the railway
track gauge was the only thing in India that was 'metric' for a long
time.
Another reason for narrow gauge railways is that it was substantially
cheaper to build, equip, and operate than standard gauge or broad gauge
railways, particularly in difficult terrain. However the problem with
narrow gauge railroads is they lack room to grow and their cheap
construction is bought at the price of being engineered only for initial
traffic demands. While a standard or broad gauge railroad could more
easily be upgraded to handle heavier, faster traffic, many narrow gauge
railroads are impractical to improve. Speeds and loads can not increase,
so traffic density is significantly limited. Another reason for the
conversion of rail tracks to broad gauge is also to ensure stability in
the face of Indian weather and the perceived threat of cyclonic winds.
Indian Railways Vignettes
Below is a selection of humorous vignettes from the Indian Railways,
including stories of rats, bulls and pythons and one story of a rather
inebriated engine driver:-
Have you seen rats who drink tea regularly? I have seen it at Shoranur
(Kerala) station Thousands of rats belonging to all generations infest
the numerous holes just below PF2 which are made for drainage purpose.
As soon as a train leaves, these rats virtually scramble hither thither
in the PF, and if the tea vendors are away for a smoke and if tea is
pouring out drip by drip from the pot, they raise their bodies on hind
legs and drink tea fearlessly whilst hundreds of passengers watch the
scene.
In the late 40s, 4UP Frontier Mail was hauled by an H Class locomotive, driven by Speed King, K.
An inebriated K was stung by a local train overtaking him. He ripped
open the Regulator, and hurtled past Mahalaxmi. Too late, he switched
off Power and applied full Emergency brakes. The train crashed into the
Platform Dead End, and the Bombay Central station roof caved in. The
saloon of the then Regional Mechanical Engineer (RME) H, was attached to
the rear of 4 UP.
K was immediately suspended and the RME contemplated dismissing K.
Somebody whispered into the RMEs ear,"Sir, if you take disciplinary
action against K you are also responsible." The saloon was equipped with
braking equipment. The RME was also required to ensure the safety of
the train by operating the brakes. The result was that K was permanently
demoted to Goods Driver Grade C till his retirement.
Till the end, he retained the awesome notoriety of the Speed King who
brought the house, or rather Bombay Central station roof down.
The increasing frequency of attacks by some rogue bulls in Varanasi has
forced the temple town's Railway authorities to remove them from the
Railway station premises. The authorities have received a number of
complaints by visitors to the railway station about the bulls' nuisance.
These bulls have made the Railway platform their abode and will now be
removed with the help of the local Municipal corporation workers. They
will be rehabilitated in neighbouring forests.
Vinod Singh, a railway ticket examiner said that the bulls were causing a
lot of trouble to passengers on the Railway station. "The bulls snatch
food from the passengers and cause difficulty in walking around on the
platforms. The passengers face inconvenience as these bulls stay on the
platform and make the station dirty. Keeping all this im mind the area
manager (Railways) has called for drive against the stray bulls," he
said.
The drive, however, has met with adverse reactions from certain
residents of the holy city who revere the bull and consider such action
as disrespectful.
"The bull has a lot of importance here as it is Lord Shiva's ride. The
administration is sinning against God by behaving so wrongly with them.
Bulls are extremely calm animals, they don't harm anyone. They never
cause destruction. They do so only if you instigate them," said Badal
Jaiswal, a Varanasi dweller.
An adult python was found inside an air conditioned compartment of
Puri-Guwahati Express today creating panic among the passengers. The
snake, which was hanging from a hook near the roof of the compartment,
was caught at Balasore station by Railway Protection Force who were
informed about it by the passengers.
"When the train arrived at Balasore station at about 7 pm today
passengers complained to the RPF personnel patrolling the platform and
we immediately informed the guard of the train and managed to catch the
snake," said officer-in-charge of RPF at Balasore Amulya Biswal. The
snake was found near the toilet and it was suspected that it had escaped
while some person was trying to smuggle it, he said."
The Guwahati bound express had to be detained for about half an hour at
the platform here to catch the 5 feet-long python," he added. The local
forest officials have been asked to take possession of the snake.
Fresh Fruits from Afghanistan to India
On the theme of railways, below is a fascinating narrative taken from
historical train archives about how Afghani fruit used to arrive in the
Indian metros via the railways. Its interesting to learn that during a
period that did not have many modern conveniences, trade of even
perishable goods seemed to be more efficient than nowadays. Certainly
the narrative seems to portray a gentler and more peaceful time.
"I fondly remember as a youngster - in the late 1940's and as late as
early 50's - the repeated shouts of burly, awesome Pathan vendors in our
'mohalla' in Lucknow: "Fresh luscious grapes from Chaman; red juicy
pomegranates from Kandahar; "Buy them now, eat them now, lest you
repent!"
These Afghani fruit vendors would come to each 'mohalla' daily almost
punctually at a time "allotted" by them. And lo the kids and the
grown-ups would scamper out of their homes, the first out of curiosity
and the latter to strike a hard bargain with the vendors who were
notorious about their prices. But whatever the virtues of the vendors,
their assertion about the quality of their products was never in doubt.
So with this childhood experience when I read the following lines in
P.S.A Berridge's old classic, "Couplings to the Khyber: The Story of The
North Western Railway" I became really nostalgic about the fruits which
are certainly no more:
"Built primarily as a strategic line the Chaman Extension Railway served
for many years hundreds of tons of luscious fruits - grapes, peaches and
nectarines in particular from Afghanistan found their way to the markets
of far-away cities in India. Before 1947, in the summer months, there
used to run every day a train with its ice-packaged refrigerator vans
destined for places as far away as Calcutta and Madras."
But the famed fruits continued to filter into India even after 1947 by
road from Pakistan but unfortunately as the situation worsened even that
dribble dried up and we lost the burly Pathans and their products by
early 50's.
Reverting to my nostalgia; Berridge's brief remarks led me to 'research'
about the fruit traffic from Afghanistan and their train journeys to
various stations in the Indian hinterland in days of yore (that is
before the Partition). That I took to be an unusual, novel subject for
the rail fans and more so when it related to a country rated by Robert
Young Pelton, the adventure travel writer, as one of the "World's Most
Dangerous Places" in his eponymous book.
Let me now construct this interesting rail transportation story which
has a human angle too. Actually the grapes and all the tempting fruits
came not from Chaman (4304') but from Kandahar (5500') and areas nearby
some 67 miles away in Afghanistan. Chaman was in India as the remotest
corner station in the North Western Province bordering Afghanistan. It
was the terminal of the strategic line viz Chaman Extension Railway.
It sounds incredible today that adopting a crude cooling technique the
perishable fresh fruits always reached the customers in perfect
condition at their far away destinations covering a long distance by
road and rail through intense the summer heat and humidity of various
regions of India. The destinations were in Sind, the Punjab, United
Provinces (U.P.), Delhi, Bengal, and Madras to name only a few important
ones.
The distance covered by rail was itself mind boggling being around 1000
miles (1500 kms) from Chaman to Delhi excluding 67 miles by road from
Kandahar in Afghanistan! It was only in 1929 that for the first time
motor transport consisting of Chevrolet lorries was used supplementing
the conveyance of fresh fruits from growers in Kandahar to the
originating station Chaman for onward dispatch by rail to consuming
stations. Each lorry carried 40 "kawaras" covering the distance in just 4
hours as against 3 days by animal transportation.
A "Kawara" was a conical shaped basket about 10" wide at the base,
opening out to a 18" mouth at the top and was about 16" deep. These were
indigenously made by the Afghani women at home as a cottage industry
from "pilchi" wood taken from branches of cotton bushes. The "kawaras"
were filled with fruits which were packed in layers between wild grass
and lavender. Each such basket weighed 33 seers (60 pounds) with 22
seers of fruit. To keep the heat away ice was used in generous
quantities to keep the "kawaras" ice cold till they arrived Chaman
whether carried by animals or by motor lorries. This earthy method kept
the contents fresh and unspoilt despite the intense heat in the loading
season.
The export of fruits used to begin from Afghanistan to India in May
every year. Apricots in "kawaras" used to be cleared from Chaman by the
daily mixed train to Quetta, 176 miles away, and onward from there by
corresponding connecting trains to stations in the Punjab, U.P. and
Sind. With the advancing fruit season when grapes, peaches, apples and
pomegranates were in full bloom a daily fruit train was run comprising
Refrigerator Vans and Luggage Vans from Chaman to clear the fresh fruit
traffic. The traffic reached its peak of 3000 "kawaras" daily in August.
It continued till October after which the dried fruit traffic
commenced.
Let us recall how a typical loading day started in Chaman. Till 9 a.m.
Chaman would be a calm and peaceful station except a few coolies were
seen busy filling the bunkers of the Refrigerator Vans with ice to cool
them sufficiently well in advance of the evening's loading. As the day
progressed caravans of hundreds of heavily laden donkeys and mules
travelling from Kandahar via the neighbourly north-western town of Spin
Baldek in Afghanistan, each carrying 2 to 4 "kawaras" would arrive on
the horizon travelling in batches of 10 to 30. The intermittent clouds
of dust raised by them would sometimes give only hazy silhouettes .
The arriving animals had decorative multicoloured trappings and
innumerable bells of varies shape and size around their necks giving
them a colourful appearance, and the jingle lending a lively touch to
the otherwise monotonous environment. Upon reaching the destined
allotted shelter (called "Gunj") near Chaman railway station, the beasts
of burden would instinctively go to their nominated places for
unloading.
Once unburdened again instinctively the animals would leave making a
bee-line across the station yard to Caravan Serai in the city. Their
rightful temptation was prompted by anticipation of a well-deserved rest
and big mouthfuls of welcome fodder. Along with this animal
transportation several motor lorries would also arrive bringing fruit
consignments in "kawaras'. So Chaman which was quiet would suddenly
become a scene of great hustle and bustle with fruit merchants, shouting
muleteers, neighing mules, braying donkeys and the noise of aimless
bazaar spectators and others. By 1 p.m. the din would die down with the
departure of the last of the donkeys, mules, their masters and the local
shoppers. But the peace was to be short-lived as from 3 p.m. the
pandemonium would re-surface with the start of auctions of consignments.
Customarily before auction at least a couple of "kawaras" of each
"kafla' or caravan was opened to test-check the quality of contents.
There were hardly ever any rejections! Then with "ek", "do", "teen" or
"one", "two" or "three" the auctioneers would hammer the deals duly
selling all the consignments. To keep themselves from boredom and
sheltered from the heat; the auctioneers and bidders would chitchat in
between and enjoy the multi-coloured aerated cold drinks sold locally.
By 6 p.m. more ice would be brought in by the loaders from the two local
ice factories in Chaman city to replenish the morning ice-fillings in
the Refrigerator Vans as most of that would melt by that time. Now
labelling and dispatching of the Vans remained to be done. The labelling
time was between 6.30 and 7 p.m. After that the "kawaras" would be
brought from the nominated shelter "Gunj" to the loading platform at the
station where they were weighed and sorted for various destinations and
loaded in the vans.The loading would continue till midnight.
The vans would then be closed, shunted and marshalled destination
station-wise to form a special Fruit Train It would contain consignments
for many distant markets in India namely; Lahore, Delhi, Agra, Lucknow,
Cawnpore (Kanpur), Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
The Train - the flagship of North Western Railway - would punctually leave
Chaman daily at 12.50 a.m. for Rohri or farthest to Samarsata depending
on the quantity of traffic: these were two important junctions. From
either terminal station further clearance of vans was done by connecting
mixed or passenger trains. The bulk of this traffic went to Delhi via
Bhatinda as piecemeal parcel traffic in individual vans was 600 kms away
from Samarsata - the usual last terminal for this special Fruit Train.
The route of the Train from Chaman was via Gulistan and Bostan through
the famous Bolan Pass to Quetta and from there via Sibi, Jacobabad,
Sukkur to Rohri and finally ending most of the times at Samarsata. The
entire route was steam-hauled and was on B.G. single line except with a
few patches of double line as between Gulistan and Shelabagh at the
mouth of the marvellous Kojak Tunnel short of Chaman and the main line
from Rohri to Samarsata. The entire railway system was part of the main
historical North Western Railway, which in 1947 after the Partition, was
bifurcated into Pakistan Western Railway (now Pakistan Railway) and
Northern Railway of India.
The Partition ended the very nostalgic story of a glorious parcel train
(starting through the railways now in Pakistan) of exceptional quality
fresh-fruits from Afghanistan.''
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